Envision Charlotte has partnered with Mecklenburg County, the City of Charlotte, major employers, and Uptown residential neighborhoods to turn off their lights—excluding essential safety lighting—for one hour this Saturday as part of the global Earth Hour effort.

Known as the world’s largest public environmental action, Earth Hour will begin at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 23, and will be executed in more than 7,000 cities across the world.

In Charlotte, participants include Duke Energy Center, One Wells Fargo, Bank of America Corporate Center, and the Hearst Tower. In a letter last month, Mayor Anthony Foxx challenged all Charlotte-area businesses to join the effort to observe Earth Hour 2013.

Mecklenburg County will turn out lights at the Civil Courthouse, the County & Courts Office Building, the New Courthouse, and the Judge Clifton E.

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV)- At least four leaks, appearing to originate from coal ash ponds, were found Thursday at Mountain Island Lake and Lake Wylie, according to the Catawba Riverkeepers Foundation.

These leaks from the ash ponds are unpermitted, unhealthy and illegal. They are of particular concern because the leaks discharge into drinking water reservoirs and because Duke Power does not test the leaking material for hazardous constituents, officials said.

Catawba Riverkeeper notified DENR and EPA the leaks, which they believe are the result of the storage of coal ash waste in unlined lagoons with earthen dams.

At multiple points on beaches and banks of the lakes, a brownish-orange liquid and bubbling water can be seen seeping through exposed sediment, the Riverkeepers said.

NORTH CAROLINA - State air quality officials say smoke from a wildfire in eastern North Carolina is no longer generating elevated concentrations of air pollution, thanks to firefighting efforts and heavy rainfall during the weekend.

For the past seven days, monitors had detected elevated concentrations of particle pollution in parts of eastern North Carolina due to smoke from the Dad Fire, which began June 17 in the Croatan National Forest. Smoke from wildfires can create extremely small particles and liquid droplets that can be harmful to breathe and contribute to haze and other air quality problems.