Environment

A brown pelican blown off course nearly a year ago by Hurricane Earl has been released into the wild on the North Carolina coast. The seabird nicknamed "Ralph" was found injured on the roof of a building in Nova Scotia last September. Ralph was transported earlier this year to the Outer Banks Wildlife Shelter in Newport. The nickname stuck despite the fact that Ralph is a female. Clinic supervisor Maria Rush says Ralph completed the rehabilitation process this weekend.

State officials are taking steps to stay on top of the drought in North Carolina that's becoming more and more severe. The North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council met July 21st in Williamston face-to-face in an acknowledgement of the severity of the issue. The focus of the meeting was mostly on the drought's impact on agriculture in the eastern part of the state. A recent federal map classified most of eastern North Carolina in the "severe" drought category. Ten counties in the southeast were listed in the "extreme" drought category. Spokeswoman for the State Division of Water Resources Sarah Young says the last time we saw extreme drought conditions was in December of 2008.

Chatham county officials take a step toward protecting the area's natural resources today. The Comprehensive Conservation Plan for Chatham County is the first of its kind in North Carolina. An event being held in Pittsboro this afternoon will unveil details of the voluntary program. Leigh Ann Hammerbacher works for the Triangle Land Conservancy which contributed to the plan.

A sulfur-melting plant proposed near Morehead City has provoked a public outcry. Tom Pasztor, Senior Director of Corporate and Government Relations for the Potash Corporation says they need the plant in order to produce fertilizers, agricultural feed and industrial products. The Potash Corporation is the parent company of PCS Phosphates. PCS already uses sulfur to produce fertilizers and agricultural feeds at a facility in Aurora, North Carolina. The plant would allow them to melt dry sulfur that arrives at the port.

Water contamination at Camp Lejeune is the subject of a public forum today in Wilmington. Experts estimate close to a million people at Camp Lejeune might have been exposed to contaminated water between the 1950's and 1980's. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry will host the session. Previous meetings have been held at the agency's headquarters in Atlanta. But they're holding the meeting in Wilmington because of the large number of affected residents in North Carolina.