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The plant in Gloster, Mississippi, converts trees into wooden pellets, which are
burnt as biomass fuel in Drax’s huge power station, above, in north Yorkshire.
Photograph: SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images
The plant in Gloster, Mississippi, converts trees into wooden pellets, which are
burnt as biomass fuel in Drax’s huge power station, above, in north Yorkshire.
Photograph: SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images
Drax

This article is more than 1 month old


DRAX-OWNED WOOD PELLET PLANT IN US BROKE AIR POLLUTION RULES AGAIN

This article is more than 1 month old

Amite BioEnergy, which was fined $2.5m in 2021, notified Mississippi facility
had breached emission limits


Alex Lawson
Mon 29 May 2023 07.38 EDTLast modified on Mon 29 May 2023 12.03 EDT
 * 
 * 
 * 



A US plant that supplies wood pellets to the UK power generator Drax has
violated air pollution limits in Mississippi, it has emerged.

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) has written to Amite
BioEnergy notifying the Drax-owned company that it had violated emissions rules.



The notice of violation, which has been seen by the Guardian, said that while
the plant was permitted to “operate as a minor source for hazardous air
pollutants”, a review of Amite’s monitoring reports had shown the factory had
been a “major” source of hazardous air pollutants from January 2021 until late
last year.

The plant in Gloster, Mississippi, converts trees sourced from southern states
into wooden pellets, which are burnt as biomass fuel in Drax’s huge power
station in Selby, North Yorkshire.

The sustainability of Drax’s operations has increasingly come under scrutiny
from MPs and environmental campaigners.

In 2021, Amite was fined $2.5m (£2m) after breaching air pollution rules. It is
unclear whether the latest breach will lead to a financial penalty.


A woodchip pile at a Amite BioEnergy site. Photograph: Drax

The notice of violation, issued in March, said the company was permitted to emit
24 tons (22 tonnes) a year of hazardous air pollutants on a rolling 12-month
basis, but reached as much as 37 tons between January 2021 and December 2022,
peaking in July 2022.



The MDEQ asked Amite for an explanation and what action it had taken to correct
the violation.

In response, Drax argued that pellet production was a relatively young industry,
adding: “Several wood pellet facilities, not only Amite BioEnergy, initially
underestimated emissions in connection with the permitting of these facilities.

“Amite BioEnergy has a history of acting quickly to update emissions and permits
upon discovery of new emission factors and new information pertaining to other
pellet production plants.”

Amite argued that, according to its analysis, it was only non-compliant for a
short period – between late October and early November 2021.

Great Britain’s energy regulator, Ofgem, has launched an investigation, which
will be carried out by the US consulting group Black & Veatch, over whether
Drax’s operations are aligned with biomass sustainability rules.

Last year, the UK government was accused of funding “environmental racism” in
the US south by providing subsidies to Drax. The company, which has a stock
market valuation of more than £2bn, received £617m in government subsidies in
2022.



In the US, Matt Williams, a campaigner for Cut Carbon Not Forests and a senior
advocate for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said of Drax: “It’s already
been fined once. But a $2m fine is pocket change to a company that receives
hundreds of millions of pounds in subsidies every year by claiming to be green.
And now it’s doing it again.

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“Burning trees in power stations should not be part of our energy system. The UK
government needs to stop handing billions of pounds in subsidies to companies
like this that are poisoning people’s air, making climate change worse, and
destroying forests.”

John Randall, a former Conservative MP who was an environment adviser to Theresa
May, said another breach by Drax was “extremely worrying”.

Lord Randall added : “It’s imperative that Drax, which receives millions in
bill-payer subsidies, cleans up its act immediately.”

A Drax spokesperson said that in January 2022 an environmental consultant
reviewed its air pollution calculations and “identified some discrepancies”
before the company contacted MDEQ to “fine tune” the calculations and update the
readings.

The spokesperson said: “Drax took prompt corrective action in response and
worked with MDEQ to resolve the issues and provide them with accurate reports
and permit applications. We continue to work with leading environmental
consultants to ensure that we monitor and report permit compliance in a rigorous
and transparent manner.

“Drax is committed to environmental compliance and remains focused on
transparency and open communication with the [US] Environmental Protection
Agency, MDEQ and the community.

“The safety of our people and the communities in which we operate is our
priority, and we take our environmental responsibilities very seriously.”

The company reported annual profits of £731m in 2022, up from £398m the year
before, and last month said it would hand investors £150m through a share
buyback. Last week, Drax told investors it planned to expand significantly in
the US.

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I was hoping you would
consider taking the step of supporting the Guardian’s journalism. 

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powerful hold on so much of the information that reaches the public about what’s
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or shareholders to consider. Our journalism is produced to serve the public
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Betsy Reed

Editor, Guardian US





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Topics
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 * Biomass and bioenergy
 * Air pollution
 * Mississippi
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