Briefs: NC DEQ accepting comments for air quality permit for Guilford Co. business; public hearing set for pipeline proposal in Rockingham Co.
Stretch of Wilmington's River Road to close on Sunday, August 18 for roundabout construction
Down Ballot Staff Reports
RALEIGH – The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality (DAQ) is now accepting public comments on a draft Title V air quality permit for Carpenter Co., an expanded polystyrene manufacturer in High Point, Guilford County.
Carpenter Co. previously held a synthetic minor air quality permit from DAQ that capped its emissions below major-source thresholds of 100 tons per year. In 2022, Carpenter Co. received a state construction and operation permit, allowing it to emit pentane, a volatile organic compound (VOC), at major-source levels. However, the facility’s actual emissions have remained at minor-source levels.
The 2022 permit also required Carpenter Co. to apply for and obtain a major-source Title V permit. This proposed Title V permit would limit the facility’s VOC emissions to 250 tons per year to avoid triggering Prevention of Significant Deterioration permitting.
The facility is classified as a minor source of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) and is subject to federal rules for area sources of HAPs for its adhesive coating operations. The facility demonstrated that its emissions of toxic air pollutants will be below respective permitting rates.
The draft permit includes conditions that ensure ambient levels of all pollutants emitted by the facility comply with emission standards, including applicable health-based standards, beyond the facility’s fence line. The facility would also be subject to recordkeeping and reporting requirements and regular inspections.
Comments can be emailed to daq.publiccomments@deq.nc.gov with “CarpenterCo.22C” in the subject line, or left via voicemail by calling 919-707-8726. Comments can also be mailed to:
NCDEQ Division of Air Quality
1641 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1641
Copies of the public notice, draft permit, draft permit review, permit application, draft community profile, and a one-page project fact sheet are available online.
If you need this information in Spanish, Urdu, Arabic, Lao, Swahili or another language, call 919-707-8446 or email Shawn.Taylor@deq.nc.gov.
NC DEQ Division of Water Resources to hold public hearing on water quality impacts from Mountain Valley Pipeline proposal
RALEIGH – The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Resources (DWR) will hold a public hearing on Aug. 12 in order to hear public comment on Mountain Valley Pipeline’s LLC application for a 401 water quality certification related to the proposed construction of 5.2 miles of a high pressure, steel, natural gas transmission pipeline in Rockingham County.
Public Hearing Details
When: 6 p.m., Aug. 12, 2025
Where: Eden City Hall Council Chambers, 308 E. Stadium Drive, Eden, N.C., 27288
Register: Sign-in and speaker registration will begin at 5:30 p.m.
According to the application, the project would permanently impact 52 linear feet of jurisdictional intermittent streams and would temporarily impact 722 linear feet of jurisdictional streams and 2.9494 acres of 404 jurisdictional wetlands.
Per Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, state 401 water quality certifications are required for federally permitted or licensed activities, including construction or operations of facilities that could result in a discharge to navigable waters.
The 401 water quality certification would assess whether the proposal would meet state water quality standards, and whether the project has avoided or minimized impacts to surface waters or wetlands, among other considerations.
According to the application, the pipeline is proposed to provide natural gas to meet specific requests for natural gas to Enbridge Gas North Carolina and Duke Energy Carolinas to meet growing supply and resiliency needs.
The purpose of the public hearing is to allow the public to submit verbal and/or written comments regarding the 401 water quality certification application. DWR is unable to guarantee that there will be enough time to hear comments from all people who register to speak.
Written comments may also be submitted via mail to: Sue Homewood, 401 Permitting, 1617 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC, 27699-1617.
The application, related materials, and the draft community profile are available online: Permit file.
Part of Wilmington's River Road to close on Sunday, August 18 for roundabout construction
According to a newsletter from the city of Wilmington, Construction on a new roundabout at the intersection of River Road and Independence Boulevard began in early July. Starting the morning of Sunday, Aug. 18, River Road will close between Coleman Drive and Independence Boulevard to allow the project to move into its next phase. The closure will remain in place for the duration of the six-month project.
During this time, southbound traffic on River Road will be detoured to Carolina Beach Road via Raleigh Street and Sunnyvale Drive. Traffic will still be able to move through the intersection in the following ways:
- Northbound River Road traffic can turn right onto Independence Boulevard toward Carolina Beach Road
- Southbound Independence Boulevard traffic can turn left onto River Road toward Riverlights
Beginning Wednesday, Aug. 6, digital message boards will be placed along the route to alert drivers of the closures to come.
The new single-lane roundabout is designed to improve safety and traffic flow in this busy corridor. The $2.42 million project is a joint effort between the city of Wilmington, Riverlights, and Proximity Watermark Development.
