NC Wildlife Federation announces award winners

The North Carolina Wildlife Federation has announced the winners of the annual Governor's Conservation Achievement Awards.

The federation has presented the awards since 1958. This year's awards will also induct environmental philanthropist Fred Stanback of Salisbury into the Conservation Hall of Fame. Stanback previously was named Conservationist of the Year in 2005.

Award winners will be honored at a Sept. 6 banquet in Cary:

• Conservationist of the Year: Jean Beasley of Topsail Island for her work with sea turtles
• Wildlife Conservationist: Robert Curry, chief of inland fisheries for the N.C. Wildlife Commission in Raleigh
• Sportsman: Bryan Perry of Zebulon for his work with wild turkeys
• Land Conservationist: Jamin Simmons, a farmer from Fairfield who embraces innovation
• Water Conservationist: Roger Dick of Albemarle for his defense of rivers, lakes and public access
• Environmental Educator: Shaefny Grays of Morrisville for a mentoring program at N.C. State University's College of Natural Resources
• Conservation Communicator: Joe Albea of Winterville for his advocacy of wildlife on public television and other media
• Youth Conservationist: Rachel Hopkins, a student in Raleigh who advocates for nongame species
• Legislator: Rep. Chuck McGrady of Hendersonville for his attention to conservation
• Municipal Conservationist: The City of Jacksonville for showcasing the New River
• Wildlife Volunteer: John Spruill of Hampstead for fighting for wildlife, farms and wild lands in Eastern North Carolina
• Hunter Safety Educator: Stony Rushing of Wingate for helping underserved hunters
• NCWF Chapter: Habitat and Wildlife Keepers in Matthews, which turned its community green
• NCWF Affiliate: North Carolina Hunters for the Hungry, whose volunteers process and donate venison
• Natural Resources Scientist: Christopher Moorman of Raleigh for his work with wildlife-friendly forestry
• Conservation Organization: Quality Deer Management Association for combining hunting with conservation
• Business Conservationist: The Webb Farm of Ellerbe for work with quail hunting on a family farm
• Wildlife Enforcement Officer: Master Officer Robert Newsome of Marion for merging law enforcement with public outreach
• Marine Fisheries Enforcement Officer: Sgt. Carter Witten of Havelock for leading special enforcement projects in Eastern North Carolina.

Enviro groups unhappy with ash legislation

Several environmental groups wrote N.C. Senate leader Phil Berger and House speaker Thom Tillis on Friday to complain about the coal ash legislation now before a legislative conference committee.

Legislation adopted by both chambers sets Duke Energy on a 15-year timeline to drain each of its 33 ash ponds in North Carolina. Differences between the two include House changes that allow extensions to the timeline and changes in how groundwater contamination is defined. Neither says whether consumers would pay to clean up the ponds.

House and Senate members say their work puts North Carolina at the forefront of states in dealing with ash and predict it will serve as a national cleanup model.

But the environmental groups wrote that "the current legislation inexplicably attempts to weaken our state's existing groundwater protection laws in favor of Duke Energy while allowing Duke to continue polluting state waters and putting our communities at risk."

The letter was signed by the Southern Environmental Law Center, which represents groups in litigation against Duke, and representatives of 11 advocacy groups including Charlotte's Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation.

It listed three "fundamental problems" with the legislation:

• Ash is required to be removed from ponds at only four of Duke's 14 coal-fired power plants in the state. The groups say ash could stay in place, near water it could contaminate, at the remaining 10 plants.

• House members inserted language they said was intended to prevent over-broad interpretations of a judge's order this year that state law requires "immediate action" to eliminate sources of groundwater pollution. Advocates say the change "is a clear effort to gut that requirement."

• The bill allows Duke the option of bringing unpermitted leaks from its coal ash dams under existing permits. 

"In short, the bill as written actually weakens North Carolina's protections against coal ash pollution, which is alarming given the recent disaster at the Dan River facility and frequent assurances that this bill would provide strong protections for our citizens," the groups wrote. "It is not too late to make good on those promises."

Rep. Chuck McGrady and Sen. Tom Apodaca, both Republicans from Hendersonville, are the respective leads for ash legislation in the House and Senate and are expected to try to arrive at a compromise bill. No word when it will appear.

Duke Energy Carolinas slips in customer survey

Duke Energy Carolinas, which serves the Charlotte region, slipped in this year's J.D. Power and Associates customer-satisfaction survey of electric utility residential customers.

Duke Carolinas scored 641 on a 1,000-point scale, according to results out this week. That ranked it ninth-highest among 13 large utilities in the South.

In 2013 Duke had 656 points, ranking sixth-highest. In 2012 its 637 points ranked ninth.

A coal ash spill into the Dan River and subsequent federal grand jury investigation couldn't have helped Duke in the rankings, which are based in part on corporate citizenship.

But that wasn't the driving factor in the ratings drop, said J.D. Power official Jeff Conklin. More important, he said, were responses to survey questions about power quality and reliability, and about price. Duke Carolinas has raised rates three times since 2009.

Duke Energy Progress, the utility that serves Raleigh and the eastern Carolinas, did even worse in the survey. Its 637 points this year put it in 11th place in the region. That's a drop from 2012, before the merger of Duke Energy and Progress Energy, when the utility then known as Progress Energy Carolinas ranked sixth.

The survey measures customer satisfaction in six areas: power quality and reliability; price; billing and payment; corporate citizenship; communications and customer service.

Results nationwide showed improved ratings, J.D. Power said, due to improvements in corporate behavior and communicating with customers about outages. But electric utilities still lag in customer satisfaction compared to other home services such as cable TV and Internet providers.

Public supports ban on coyote shooting in red wolf territory

Public comments favor, by a wide margin, a ban on hunting coyotes in red-wolf territory as the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission meets Thursday to discuss the issue.

In May a federal judge ordered the state to end its open season on coyotes in the five coastal counties -- Dare, Tyrell, Hyde, Beaufort and Washington -- roamed by the rare wolves, which resemble coyotes. Temporary rules the commission has proposed put the injunction in effect.

Rising numbers of gunshot wolves, often when they're mistaken for coyotes, threaten the species' survival on the Albemarle Peninsula of northeastern North Carolina, federal biologists say. Between 90 and 110 wolves live in the area.

Public comments the commission solicited found that 3,108 agree with the ban and just 69 disagree. That doesn't count form letters from members of the Southern Environmental Law Center, whose clients sued to stop coyote hunting, and Safari Club International.

More than 40 people submitted comments at a public hearing in Columbia on June 19.

The rules would take effect Aug. 1, but U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle has said he would revisit his injunction six months after he made the ruling.