Finally time for Jordan Lake cleanup? 

This summer, state officials took public comments on their long-overdue plan for the cleanup and protection of Jordan Lake—the Triangle reservoir that draws more than 1 million visitors every year.

The cleanup plan, which Environment North Carolina championed in 2005, would maintain existing vegetative buffers around the lake and its tributaries to filter out pollutants. It would limit runoff and sewage pollution from existing developments near Jordan Lake. But the plan has drawn fire from some city governments and developers. Environment North Carolina is urging the Environmental Management Commission not to weaken its protection goals. A decision is expected in November.

State officials will decide in November whether or not to adopt the Environment North Carolina-backed clean-up plan for beloved Jordan Lake.

First step on cleaning up diesel pollution

Led by Rep. Ruth Samuelson (Mecklenburg), the General Assembly took a first step in July in limiting health-threatening diesel pollution from school buses. The move was promoted by Environment North Carolina and other concerned groups.

Emissions from diesel vehicles create soot, or fine particle, pollution. When inhaled, this type of pollution triggers respiratory problems, heart attacks and even early death. Children, whose immune systems and lungs are still developing, are particularly at risk.

The federal government requires newly manufactured diesel vehicles to produce dramatically less emissions, but does not address the tens of thousands of older diesel vehicles still on the roads. The Environment North Carolina-backed Clean School Bus Act creates a funding program to retrofit older school buses with pollution controls, offering $500,000 for the year for participating school systems.