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U.K.-based energy giant settles with Mississippi agency after exceeding air pollutant limits

A U.K.-based energy giant has reached a settlement with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) after repeated instances of hazardous air pollutants coming from the company’s facility in Gloster.

The state agency had hit Drax Group with multiple notices of violations (NOVs) due to an increased presence of methanol in the air as well as a failure to timely conduct an emissions performance test by a certain deadline. 

Drax originally opened shop in Gloster in 2016, leading a long list of European companies that have chosen the southeastern U.S. to produce wood pellets made from trees. According to those in the industry, wood pellets are an eco-friendly alternative to burning coal, but environmental activists have contended that burning wood pellets is worse than fossil fuels, releasing 65 percent more CO2 than coal.

In the seven years since Drax inserted itself into the small Mississippi community, residents have repeatedly voiced concerns with what they say is a negative impact on the air quality and the overall health of those who live in the area.

Residents were not the only ones concerned with emissions from Drax’s Gloster plant. In 2020, the MDEQ fined the company from Selby, U.K., $2.5 million for releasing more volatile organic compounds into the air than its permit allowed.

Then, in March 2023, MDEQ issued another notice to Drax – which was operating with a minor source polluter permit – notifying the company that it had been exceeding the legal limit of hazardous air pollutants for the past year.

MDEQ executive director Chris Wells clarified to SuperTalk Mississippi News that the agency’s qualm with Drax is not the same as the Gloster community’s. However, both sides have validity as “public health trumps economic development.”

“The problem we have with the company is that they came in and asked for a minor source permit. They have failed to comply with those limits,” Wells said back in August 2023. “They have exceeded their permit limits, which is not a good thing. We don’t tolerate it, and we have taken enforcement against the facility more than once.”

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