In response to a July 10 notice of violation accusing Pactiv Evergreen of illegally dumping unused chemicals  into the wastewater treatment plant at its now-shuttered Canton paper mill, the company has submitted a letter  stating that it acted “on a good faith belief” and that the discharge was legal. 

The paper mill has been closed for years now, but the cleanup is ongoing.

Pick up the Pigeon River during a cleanup 9-10 a.m. Saturday, May 13, in Canton.

Volunteers are wanted to help the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission stock trout into the West Fork Pigeon River in Haywood County beginning at 10:45 a.m. Monday, May 8. 

For decades, concern about water quality has been the central tension between Canton’s paper mill and the environmental advocates monitoring it. When the plant closes this year, those issues are likely to fade with the final whistle — but even the mill’s longtime critics aren’t rejoicing.

The truth, even when it’s staring you down Clint Eastwood style, is easier to ignore than to act on. Just human nature, I guess, but something has to give.

Eleven months to the day after Haywood County awoke to unprecedented flood damage along the Pigeon River resulting from torrential rains the day before, Emergency Services Officer Zack Koonce and Director Travis Donaldson told commissioners they’d secured grant funding to bolster reporting and warning systems.

After more than three years of research and analysis, a group focused on ending wildlife-vehicle collisions in the Pigeon River Gorge has released a report outlining its recommendations for keeping them safe from traffic.

Though Tropical Storm Fred bears the brunt of the blame for last week’s flood, a cold front moving ahead of the tropical storm set the table for destruction. 

Rain was coming down hard as Gary Griffith surveyed his fields in Bethel, around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 17. Harvest season was in full swing, and before he went home to Ratcliff Cove, he wanted to make sure his 15 acres of peppers and cucumbers growing along the Pigeon River would make it through the storm.