Gloster – Mississippi

We take our environmental responsibilities and commitments seriously and care deeply for the safety of our people and community residents. We have a track record of ensuring we protect the people and communities where we operate, which is why we have installed the best available control equipment to manage our emissions in Gloster. We appreciate the initial research from Brown University and look forward to reading through their findings, which as we understand are currently undergoing peer review.
The results from a study conducted by an independent leading environmental consulting firm support that the air quality pose no adverse effects to human health and determined that no modeled pollutant from the facility exceeded the acceptable ambient concentration.  

Drax has made several upgrades and changes to our operations. In 2021, we installed additional RCO (regenerative catalytic oxidizer) technology at our Gloster pellet plant to manage these additional emissions.  

The revision of our air permit to address these additional emissions is ongoing and we are progressing through the regulatory process.  As part of this process, Drax is required to regularly monitor emissions through a third-party, and report emissions data to MDEQ.   

Drax continues to maintain an Occupational Noise Program with leading industry practices that go above the minimum regulatory requirements to ensure we reduce impact to our team and neighbors. This program includes an additional occupational noise program utilizing various testing and monitoring methods. Our team will continue to develop additional mitigation projects as needed.

The UN’s IPCC and the UK’s Committee on Climate Change agree that using sustainable biomass to generate bioenergy is a critical technology in the fight against climate change. Sustainable biomass, as deemed by international science, policy, and national legislation, is biomass that meets strict criteria, ensuring attributes of sourcing locations are maintained including biodiversity and ensuring social equality within local communities. Sustainable biomass also means that in using the biomass, less carbon is released than would be the case if the alternative fuel source was used.  
  
Biomass comes from organic, living matter that is in a constant cycle of growth and renewal, absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere in the process. So, when biomass is used to generate energy – such as heat and/or electricity – the CO2 released is offset by the amount of CO2 it absorbed from the atmosphere while it was growing as well as new growth. Biomass is a very small part (just 3% in the US South) of a broader forest products industry that includes the harvest of wood for construction and furniture, where the use of wood reduces the carbon impact in those industries as well as locking away the carbon for longer.  

Drax is committed to ensuring the biomass we source delivers positive outcomes for the climate, for nature and for the communities in which we operate. We have robust sustainability standards in place to ensure our biomass meets the strict sustainability requirements of the UK, US and Canadian governments.   

Our biomass is made from sawmill residues, harvesting residues, and fiber which has little other use or market value. This includes low grade roundwood (i.e. pulpwood) that is not suitable for sawmilling or cannot access higher-value markets, including the by-products of thinning operations. Providing a use for these forestry residues supports healthy forest management, which helps reduce the risk of forest fires, pests and disease outbreaks, creates jobs in communities where there are few opportunities, and also delivers reliable renewable power.      

The forests that we source our biomass from are managed in accordance with best practices designed to support the health and growth of these forests over the long term and we have strict criteria in place to ensure our work does not negatively impact the growth of the forest, the amount of carbon being stored, biodiversity or the socioeconomic wellbeing of the communities that surround them.   

The results of an independent, third-party air toxics impact analysis support that there are no adverse effects to human health from the facility and determined that no modeled pollutant from the facility exceeded the acceptable ambient concentration.  

Drax utilizes additional technology to responsibly manage emissions at our wood pellet production facilities, and we continually monitor operations to ensure compliance with all regulatory requirements.  
 
Beyond that, Drax is constantly evaluating new ways to enhance our operations as technology and best industry practices evolve over time. This can be seen in our recent introduction of additional technology at our plants, and it is an ongoing process.  We continue to work with our regulatory agencies to ensure the continued safe and responsible operation of our facilities, for both our employees and the community.   

We store finished wood pellets in silos that are equipped with bin vent filters with a particulate matter collection efficiency of 99%. Any emissions from these areas are therefore minimal.

Drax has created nearly 70 permanent jobs at the Drax Amite pellet plant, with 82% of wages paid to Drax employees in Mississippi living in rural counties. More than one-third of Drax wages in Mississippi are paid to employees living in Amite County. Around 20% of the workforce at our Amite pellet plant live in Gloster with the remaining employees from neighboring towns like Liberty, Centreville, Meadville and Magnolia.  

We currently record and report deviations according to our permit specifications. We also summarize our deviations in our semi-annual report. We are currently progressing through the permitting process with MDEQ.  

These issues are being addressed through our permit updates and additional operational control being implemented in our updated Environmental Management system.

Drax is being fined a total of $225,000. However, $75,000 of that $225,000 fine will go towards a supplemental environmental project (SEP). 

The SEP is part of the Agreed Order between the MDEQ and Drax. The SEP will be the construction of a dust suppression screen to be installed on the southeast side of the facility’s property near the truck dump. This new project is an example of Drax’s ongoing commitment to the Gloster community. This project was completed in connection with the settlement of an environmental enforcement action taken by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.

The dust screen will capture and contain fine wood particles through a 120’ x 25’ screen. The screen will consist of steel support frames to support a fine-meshed fabric to sieve small wood particles from wind gusts and trap them within Drax’s facility without inhibiting airflow through the screens.