Gloster residents protest Drax’s new permit request

GLOSTER — Drax, the United Kingdom-based wood pellet producer that’s violated air pollution limits in Mississippi multiple times, is asking the state to raise the amount of emissions it’s allowed to release from its facility in Gloster.

In September, the state fined Drax $225,000 for releasing 50% over the permitted limit of HAPs, or Hazardous Air Pollutants, from its facility Amite BioEnergy. In a pending permit application that it submitted to the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality in 2022, the company is seeking to transition from a “minor source” of HAPs to a “major source.”

A “major source” permit would remove the limit over the facility’s total HAP emissions, but it would apply a new limit over the rate at which Drax could release the pollutants.

This year’s fine was its second penalty for violating Mississippi law around air pollution limits. In 2020, the state fined the company $2.5 million for releasing over three times the legal threshold of Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOCs, one of the largest such fines in state history. Drax underestimated its VOC releases since the facility opened in 2016, but didn’t realize it until 2018. The facility didn’t come into compliance until 2021.

The Environmental Protection Agency lists a variety of potential health impacts from exposure to HAPs, including damage to the immune system and respiratory issues. VOCs can also cause breathing problems, as well as eye, nose and throat irritation, according to the American Lung Association.

About sixty people packed into a Gloster public library for MDEQ’s public hearing over Drax’s permit application on Nov. 14, 2024.

For years since Drax’s violations became public, nearby residents have attributed health issues to living near the facility. During a public hearing on Drax’s permit request Thursday in Gloster, attendees reiterated those concerns.

“We all experience headaches every day,” resident Christie Harvey said about her and her grandchildren. Harvey said she has asthma too, and her doctor was “baffled” by her symptoms. “Each week I have to take (my grandchildren) to the clinic for upper respiratory issues … It’s not fair that we have to go through this. Drax needs to lower the pollution as much as possible.”

Part of the public outcry is the proximity of people’s homes to the plant, which is within a mile of Gloster’s downtown.

A screenshot of Google Maps showing the location of Drax’s Amite BioEnergy facility relative to the rest of Gloster. The facility is within a mile of the downtown area.

“The wood pellet plant in Lucedale is situated in an industrial park outside of town,” Andrew Whitehurst of Healthy Gulf, an environmental group dedicated to protecting the Gulf of Mexico’s natural resources, said at the meeting. “The wood pellet plant that (Enviva is) trying to put in Bond will be situated north and west of the downtown area. Not like this when it’s right smack in the middle (of the city). It’s totally inappropriate. People can’t take it, they don’t deserve it.”

In a statement to Mississippi Today, Drax said it prioritizes the public health and environment in Gloster, adding that the permit modification is a part of standard business practice.

“When we first began operations, some of our original permits were not fit for purpose,” spokesperson Michelli Martin said via e-mail. “We are now working to acquire the appropriate permits for our operating output and to improve our compliance. Within these permits the requirements may change based on engineering data and industry standards. This permit modification is part of our ongoing plan to provide MDEQ with the most accurate data. Drax fully supports the resolution of our permitting request and looks forward to working with MDEQ to finalize the details.”

While researchers, including from Brown University, are studying the health symptoms of residents near the wood pellet plant, there is no proven connection between the facility’s emissions and those symptoms.

Erica Walker, a Jackson native who teaches epidemiology at Brown and who’s leading the study, spoke to Mississippi Today earlier this year. Regardless of the cause and effect, she said, the decision to put the plant near disadvantaged communities with poor health outcomes is concerning.

“We want to make sure we aren’t additionally burdening already burdened communities,” Walker said.

Operations resume at Drax in Gloster, Miss., on Friday, Feb. 16, 2024. Some Gloster residents are concerned with the industrial pollution caused by the company that produces wood pellets in the town. Credit: Eric J. Shelton/Mississippi Today

About 1,300 people live in the city, according to Census data, and 39% live below the poverty line.

Moreover, Gloster residents often have to travel hours, to cities such as McComb and Baton Rouge, to find the nearest medical specialist. Amite County, where Gloster is, has a higher rate of uninsured residents than the rest of the state, according to County Health Rankings, and the ratio of residents to primary care physicians is over three times greater in the county than Mississippi as a whole.

As part of its application, Drax is seeking a Title V permit under the Clean Air Act, which the EPA requires for major sources of air pollutants. This gives the EPA the opportunity to review Drax’s application and public comments submitted with it. The public can submit comments on the application until Nov. 26, and can do so through MDEQ’s website.

The Mississippi Environmental Quality Permit Board, which is made up of officials from several state agencies, will then decide whether or not to grant the new permits. A full overview of the process and Drax’s application is available online.

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