Mississippi residents sue Drax over toxic air pollution permit

Residents of a small Mississippi town have filed a lawsuit against Drax Biomass after the company secured a permit designating its local wood pellet plant as a “major source” of hazardous air pollution.

The subsidiary of the FTSE 250 energy company had previously been denied approval to raise emissions in the 900-person town of Gloster, Mississippi, after locals warned they were already experiencing serious negative health effects from the plant’s operations. 

But reversing an April decision, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) permit board on Wednesday granted a permit to Drax’s Amite County wood pellet production facility.

The plant in Gloster turns trees from southern U.S. states into wood pellets that are burned as biomass fuel at Drax’s large power station in Selby, North Yorkshire, England.

According to the thinktank Ember, Drax is set to receive more than £10bn in UK renewable energy subsidies between 2012 and 2027, despite criticism from environmental groups and climate scientists who argue that the wood used to produce biomass pellets is not sustainably sourced.

The company was found to have provided inaccurate data about its biomass sourcing, leading to a £25m ($33m) fine paid to the UK energy regulator. The company is currently under investigation by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and lawmakers in the UK have been reviewing the billions in renewables subsidies the North Yorkshire plant receives.

The new lawsuit against Drax alleges that the Amite County facility – which shares a fence line with the broader community – has unlawfully exposed residents to excessive levels of chemicals and pollutants that have coated homes and heightened the risk of diseases such as cancer and respiratory illness.

“This case is about holding a multibillion-dollar foreign corporation accountable for poisoning a small Mississippi community,” said Letitia Johnson, an attorney at Singleton Schreiber, which filed the lawsuit.

Residents of Gloster’s predominantly Black, low-income town say they have felt dizzy, suffered headaches and otherwise felt unwell since the facility opened a decade ago, and they worry that any increase in emissions could worsen respiratory illnesses, heart disease and other health conditions linked to the pollutants.

The UK government has previously been accused of funding “environmental racism” through the subsidies to Drax.

“You got dust falling all night,” said Jimmy Brown, who lives less than a mile from the plant, the conservation outlet Mongabay reported. “You got constant noise from the plant. You got odor. You got truck traffic [carrying tons of trees and chipped wood] all day, every day. That’s what a lot of people don’t understand. It’s nonstop.”

The approval came despite the site’s prior standards violations, which led to a $250,000 fine last year for releasing more than 50% above permitted levels of harmful pollutants, and a $2.5m penalty in 2020 for years of underestimating volatile organic compound emissions.

After the permit decision this week in Mississippi, a Drax spokesperson said the company was “pleased that the [permit board] has listened to the clear recommendations of its own technical staff, and the voices of Gloster community leaders, local businesses and a large number of our neighbors in Gloster”.

In a statement, Drax Biomass said it was aware of the lawsuit and, while it could not comment on ongoing legal matters, it would “strive to be a good neighbour in our communities and to support their wellbeing and prosperity”.

In a recent letter to Mississippi’s governor, Tate Reeves, and the MDEQ permit board, 85 advocacy organizations raised concerns about the impact of Drax’s manufacturing on Gloster residents and urged steps “to ensure they can breathe clean, safe air”.

“From young children with asthma who are unable to play outside, to elderly residents reliant on costly breathing treatments, it is clear that Gloster is a community in crisis,” the organizations wrote.

“Those who can afford to leave are doing so,” they added, “while those who remain are left to suffer worsening health.”