solid waste

Photo shows a young Black man in a hat and mask placing a garbage can in a driveway. Sanitation workers face the daily effects of coronavirus.

Sanitation workers soldier on during COVID crisis despite risks

July 9, 2020 by Aaliyah Bowden

Sanitation workers soldier on during COVID crisis despite risks - North Carolina Health News

Early in the morning, these guys ride around on a truck in your neighborhood collecting every bit of trash you throw out not knowing what they're touching. A combination of smells wafts through their noses-- stinky diapers, spoiled pizza, hazardous chemicals. Sanitation workers across the state voice their concerns and share how their jobs have changed during the pandemic as an essential worker.

By Aaliyah Bowden Three days before Micheal Robinson Jr. found out that his superintendent had died in the hospital from the novel coronavirus, he learned that his cousin-in-law in New York had also died from COVID-19. Adrian Grubbs, a sanitation worker in Raleigh, was among the first few COVID-19 deaths in North Carolina. News of […]

The city of Cary's wastewater treatment plant, where officials are monitoring raw sewage for the coronavirus: Photo credit: City of Cary

If the coronavirus rebounds, Cary could be the first to know

June 9, 2020 by Greg Barnes

If the coronavirus rebounds, Cary could be the first to know - North Carolina Health News

Cary, Raleigh and other areas of the Triangle are working with N.C. State on a research project that aims to detect the virus in human feces, potentially alerting health officials to new outbreaks.

By Greg Barnes If a new surge of the coronavirus occurs, Cary could be among the first cities to detect the rebound and establish a quick response. Cary has teamed with the Massachusetts company Biobot Analytics, in collaboration with researchers at Harvard, MIT, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, to sample the city’s untreated sewage for […]

A shipping container used as a communal toilet outside Durban, South Africa, holds a new toilet prototype designed by researchers at Duke University

Can a better toilet save lives? Duke researchers hope so.

February 20, 2020 by Greg Barnes

Can a better toilet save lives? Duke researchers hope so. - North Carolina Health News

University researchers are sharing more than $200 million in grant money from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop small-scale sanitation systems. An estimated 4.2 billion people worldwide lack safe human waste disposal systems.

By Greg Barnes Never in his wildest dreams did Duke University researcher Brian Hawkins think that he would grow up to help design a toilet that could someday save the lives of millions of people. But here he is now, on the front lines of “Reinvent the Toilet,” a project involving researchers from across the […]

A municipal drinking water plant. Unlike at a private well, water is treated for bactria and for chemicals such as 1.4 dioxane at a central location, then pumped through pipes to residents. This can symbolize 1,4 dioxane contamination and clean water.

Florence Adds to Woes of Struggling Water and Sewer Systems

October 10, 2018 by Carolina Public Press

Florence Adds to Woes of Struggling Water and Sewer Systems - North Carolina Health News

In some smaller towns, the costs of running and maintaining vital public health infrastructure is overwhelming revenues generated by those utilities. Then come the storms.

By Kirk Ross Carolina Public Press After Florence, dozens of water and sewer systems throughout North Carolina are struggling. Many have been struggling since Matthew, two years ago. Dozens more were underwater before either storm hit, with shrinking economies and populations that make it difficult for them to cover routine expenses and service the debt […]

shows a large machine for making spray, pointed over a pond and field, with mist in the air

Environmental Bills Shaping Up Post-Deadline

May 1, 2017 by Catherine Clabby

Environmental Bills Shaping Up Post-Deadline - North Carolina Health News

With crossover in the rear view mirror for legislators, there’s a degree of clarity about upcoming environmental legislation at the General Assembly.

By Catherine Clabby Last week’s crossover deadline in the General Assembly clarified some of the environmental measures that legislators are expected to hash out in coming weeks. Crossover is that legislative deadline by which bills need to complete passage through one chamber to survive the rest of the biennial session. The deadline only applies to […]

Additional Thanks

Categories