|
Half of North Carolina's
waste comes from its 10
most
populous counties. Three counties, Mecklenburg, Guilford and
Wake, annually generate about 30 percent of the state's waste.
|
Highlights
of the report include the following:
 Half of North Carolina's waste comes from its 10 most
populous counties. Three counties, Mecklenburg, Guilford and
Wake, annually generate about 30 percent of the state's waste.
North Carolina is a net exporter of waste, sending more than
one million tons last year to out-of-state landfills, chiefly
located in Virginia and South Carolina. These states sent
close to 42,000 tons of their waste to North Carolina
landfills last year.
Natural disasters tend to dramatically increase waste
generation. Hurricane Fran generated an estimated 700,000 tons
of debris; Hurricane Floyd accounted for an additional 329,000
tons.
Debris from construction and demolition activities,
representing 29 percent of the waste stream, is the largest
single source of wastes in North Carolina.
The recovery of traditional recyclables (paper commodities,
glass, plastic bottles and cans) has dropped in each of the
past four years. This suggests a decline in local recycling
program participation and effectiveness.
Four of the top 10 counties (Mecklenburg, Durham, Buncombe and
Pitt) contributed more, on a percentage basis, to the state's
overall tonnage recycled than to tons disposed. Two counties -
Cumberland and Gaston - provided limited recycling efforts,
accounting for about 1.5 percent of the state's recovery,
despite disposing more than six percent of North Carolina's
waste.
Local government programs alone divert more than 1 million
tons of materials annually from disposal.
Statewide and local disposal bans have increased the level of
recycling for many materials.
Markets are also relatively healthy for recyclable materials;
the state has seen strong business growth in the recycling
sector.
More than 12,000 jobs now rely on recycling in the state, and
new businesses are being developed to recycle products ranging
from computers to carpet and drywall.
North Carolina has encouraged the development of recycling
markets through effective state programs to buy recycled
products, especially recycled paper, which the state now buys
exclusively.
The
report is based on information from annual local government
reports and 10-year solid waste plans, permitted solid waste
management facilities, state agencies' data and voluntary
reporting from out-of-state landfills. The report is available
at DENR’s web site at http://wastenot.enr.state.nc.us/swhome/annrep.htm.
State
Writing Test Scores Move Up for 4th and 7th Grades
Scores
on the N.C. Writing Assessment are up for students in grades 4
and 7 this year, continuing a growth trend of the past several
years. Scores are down slightly for 10th graders. Students in
grades 4, 7 and 10 take a writing assessment annually.
Since 1996,
the percentage of students earning a score at grade level has
risen consistently for 4th and 7th graders. The performance of
10th graders has fluctuated more. The 10th grade scores have
improved annually since 1992-93 except for 1997-98 and 2000-01
when the scores dipped. The writing assessment scores for
grades four and seven will not be included this year in the
calculations that determine which schools’ staff are
eligible for bonuses under the state’s accountability
program. The State Board of Education decided in March to
suspend the writing test results from the ABCs growth
calculation.
Many
students with disabilities who were previously excluded from
the writing test were required to participate in the statewide
writing assessments this year. This kept this year’s results
from being comparable with previous years’ results. The
writing assessment is scheduled to reappear in the growth
calculations after three years’ of new writing test data
have been gathered. The results will be included in the
performance composite figures for each school.
Results
of the fourth grade writing assessment show that 68.8 percent
of the fourth graders wrote well enough to score at or above
the standard of 2.5 on a four-point scale. This represents an
increase of 11.2 percentage points from the 57.6 percent who
achieved this level in 1999-2000.
More
fourth graders, 4.8 percent, received the highest scores of
3.5 and 4.0. Last year, 4.7 percent of fourth graders scored
that well. Slightly more students, 3.1 percent, received the
lowest scores of 1.0 and 1.5 compared to 2.8 percent in
1999-2000.
At
the seventh grade level, 73.3 percent of the students wrote
well enough to score at or above the 2.5 standard compared to
71.9 percent who scored at this level on an expository
composition in 1999-2000.
A
total of 7.3 percent of the seventh graders received the
highest scores of 3.5 and 4.0. In 1999-2000, 5.8 percent
of seventh graders scored that high. As with the fourth
graders, 3.4 percent scored 1.0 or 1.5, the lowest scores.
This was up from 2.6 percent in 1999-2000.
DOT
study finds support for passenger rail service to Wilmington
Passenger
train service may be in the future for citizens in the
southeastern part of the state. The state Department of
Transportation on Monday released the Southeastern North
Carolina Passenger Rail Feasibility Study, which identified
strong interest for passenger rail service in the area. The
department conducted the study as a first step to see if there
would be enough demand for rail service in Southeastern North
Carolina.
"Our
goal was to study the level of interest in passenger rail
service and to determine the potential number of riders,
amount of revenue and operating costs for such service,"
said Transportation Secretary Lyndo Tippett. "This study
answered those preliminary questions and indicated that there
is interest in passenger rail service to Wilmington and
Southeastern North Carolina."
While
the studies initially focused on assessing the need and
desirability of a Wilmington to Charlotte rail service, the
travel surveys and interviews quickly showed there was a far
greater interest in a rail service that would give Wilmington
residents interstate access to the Northeast Corridor and
Raleigh.
Tippett
said the next step is for the department to conduct more
detailed studies to determine specific capital costs and
outline capacity and safety improvements that will be needed.
The results of those more detailed studies will help determine
a specific route.
"Before
we can identify specific routes, further study is needed to
evaluate detailed costs and track needs. But this initial
analysis shows that there is strong interest in restoring
passenger rail service to Wilmington and southeastern North
Carolina," said Tippett, "Strong business and
citizen interest translates into good potential for rail
service."
The study,
conducted by the NCDOT, recommended beginning discussions with
CSX and Norfolk Southern about operating passenger rail
service to and from Wilmington and working with the State
Ports Authority to assess possible economic impacts to the
region. Also, the report recommended that the state begin
securing property to develop a multi-modal station in
Wilmington to serve both rail and bus passengers. Finally, the
study recommended that the department conduct additional
travel surveys in the Fayetteville area.
The
department conducted travel surveys with motorists last spring
along Interstate 40 near Warsaw and U.S. 74 near Lumberton and
interviewed more than 200 local business leaders from the
Wilmington area to assess travel patterns and determine
interest levels in passenger rail service. For more
information or to view an electronic copy of the feasibility
study, visit www.bytrain.org.
DOT begins road improvement project around Wilmington airport
The N.C. Department of Transportation has begun a $61 million
project to relocate and extend Smith Creek Parkway in New
Hanover County to improve access in and around Wilmington
International Airport. The 1.5-mile section will be
constructed on a new location extending from the intersection
of Third and Harnett streets to U.S. 117 (Castle Hayne Road).
During construction, motorists can expect temporary lane and
road closings, flaggers and delays. Tidewater Construction
Corporation of Norfolk is the main contractor for the project,
which is expected to be completed in August 2005.
Meanwhile, the DOT has scheduled public hearings around the
state in coming weeks to give out information and receive
public comment on several local highway projects that are
getting under way. The road projects, as well as the time and
place of the public hearings, are as follows:
Proposed widening of I-26 to six lanes from N.C. 225 (U.S.
25 Connector) to N.C. 280 in Henderson and Buncombe counties.
The hearing will be held on Tuesday, June 5, at 7 p.m. in the
cafeteria of Hendersonville High School, 311 8th Avenue West,
Hendersonville. The project will be designed and constructed
by a private contractor. Combining the design and construction
phases into a single contract will allow the contractor to
reduce costs while expediting construction.
Proposed extension of Ridge Street (S.R. 1542) from Mountain
View Church Road (S.R. 1545) to Airport Road (S.R. 1549) in
Stanly County. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 12,
from 4-7 p.m. in the conference room of the Stanly County
Airport.
Proposed widening, upgrading and safety improvements to S.R.
1323 (Riverview Street) and N.C. 28, from S.R. 1659 (Depot
Street Extension) in Franklin to S.R. 1335 (Sanderstown Road)
in Macon County. The meeting will be held on Thursday, June 7,
from 4-7 p.m. in the gameroom of the Macon County Community
Center in Franklin.
Proposed limit on development on the U.S. 74 Bypass from
Mooresboro to the proposed Shelby Bypass in Cleveland County
until a four-lane freeway can be designed and built. The
meeting will be held on Thursday, June 7, from 4 -7 p.m. in
Room 1140 of the Cleveland Community College gymnasium in
Shelby.
Return to Page One
|
