Policy Watch journalist Lisa Sorg honored for environmental reporting

Lisa Sorg

Policy Watch journalist Lisa Sorg was honored last night by the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters for her numerous accomplishments and continuing excellence as our state’s top environmental reporter. The well-deserved recognition came as part of the League’s Green Tie Awards event in downtown Raleigh.

Sorg, who had already enjoyed distinguished and award-winning career with multiple news outlets before joining the Policy Watch team in 2016, received the “Catalyst Award” — a special recognition that’s only bestowed on select occasions to “someone who has taken exceptional action to create change and/or to bring attention to an important environmental issue. The award recognizes someone with a long history and/or strong commitment to serving the public and protecting environmental quality.”

Sorg, of course, has authored scores of powerful environmental stories in her time at Policy Watch on such varied topics as the state’s coal ash and GenX water pollution crises, hog farm pollution, climate change, a suspected cancer cluster in Iredell County, a proposed log fumigation facility in rural Delco that would have involved the release of large quantities of the dangerous chemical methyl bromide (Sorg’s reporting helped scuttle the proposal) and, just last week, the discovery of 1,4-Dioxane (a suspected carcinogen) in waste sludge delivered to a Sampson County compost production facility. Click here and here to explore the veritable mountain of work Lisa has generated in less than three years at Policy Watch.

Other award winners at last night’s event included a trio of state lawmakers (Sen. Valerie Foushee, Rep. Darren Jackson and Rep. Robert Reives II, UNC marine scientist Dr. Pete Peterson and, posthumously, longtime coastal conservation activist Dick Bierly.