Dear Stakeholder:
Drax Biomass Inc. (DBI) manufactures compressed wood pellets produced from sustainably managed working forests in the southern US. Headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana, Drax Biomass owns and operates three existing wood pellet manufacturing plants: Amite Bioenergy in Gloster, Mississippi, Morehouse Bioenergy near Bastrop, Louisiana, and LaSalle Bioenergy near Urania, Louisiana. Drax Biomass is also expanding to include three satellite sawmill operations in Arkansas (collectively referred to as Arkansas Bioenergy). Pellets produced at Amite, Morehouse, and LaSalle are derived from low-grade roundwood, forest residuals, and sawmill residuals. Pellets produced at the three satellites facilities will be derived purely from sawmill residuals. Pellets are transported by train, truck, and barge, then loaded onto ships bound from Baton Rouge to the UK. In the UK they are used at the Drax Power Station to generate flexible, renewable power for UK homes and businesses. The use of sustainably sourced wood pellets is a part of Drax Group’s strategy to enable a zero-carbon economy and help the UK meet their climate change commitments.
To assure sustainable sourcing, DBI participates in four certification programs: FSC® Chain of Custody & Controlled Wood, SFI® Chain of Custody & Fiber Sourcing, the PEFC™ Chain of Custody and the Sustainable Biomass Program (SBP). Underpinning DBI’s sustainability program is SBP’s Supply Base Evaluation which provides a formal framework for the evaluation of potential risks related to forest sourcing. All plants share the same supply area and are considered under one Supply Base Evaluation.
This consultation serves two primary purposes (1) to attain SBP certification for the three Arkansas Bioenergy satellite plants (located in Leola, Russellville, and Bearden AR respectively), and to (2) expand the supply base for all plants to include three more counties in Oklahoma (Delaware, Adair and Cherokee). We are specifically seeking input from stakeholders to test if risk evaluations and proposed mitigations remain reasonable for our supply base. For those of you which received a consultation request in 2020 (for Amite and Morehouse recertification), you will find that there have been no changes made to our risk designations or risk mitigations.
You can find the Supply Base Evaluation document here. Comments can be submitted via email during the period spanning March 23rdthrough April 23rd, 2021.
Thank you in advance for any feedback you can provide.
Sincerely,
Drax Biomass Team
