GLOSTER — Near the end of a town board meeting Tuesday, Mayor Jerry Norwood told aldermen about a meeting he attended sponsored by an environmental organization targeting the Drax Biomass pellet mill.
Dogwood Alliance held the public meeting last Friday, attended by 20 to 30 citizens, some of whom claimed Drax is polluting the air.
The company paid a $2.5 million civil penalty to the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality early this year. Since then, the company has installed a regenerative catalytic oxidizer at the plant “to ensure we operate within the permitted limits for volatile organic compounds,” a company spokesperson said following last week’s meeting.
“We’ve got a group of people here,” Norwood said, referring to Dogwood Alliance. “They came here because that’s what they get paid to do.”
He said the Alliance took photos of the Blackmon Hole residential area next to the plant but ignored the nearby house of Alderman Tommie Lee, who said he has no problems with the mill or the air quality.
Norwood questioned claims by some residents that they’ve experienced respiratory issues because of the mill.
“The only time I heard of a person having breathing problems was after the first meeting they had in town,” Norwood said, referring to a Dogwood Alliance meeting in June.
Norwood said Drax was properly penalized for its violation and has since made necessary improvements.
He cited the presence of one man at Friday’s meeting “who was totally honest — he wants money. It’s pure greed,” Norwood said.
He recalled when the former plywood mill Georgia-Pacific was fined millions in 1996 for air pollution. That plant closed in 2000.
He said the closure of Drax would mean higher utility rates for town residents since the plant provides so much revenue to the town.
“I heard the term the other night, ‘environmental racism.’ Why does it always have to come to that?” said Norwood, who is Black.
Town Superintendent Gary Sterling said a law firm has already contacted a town resident about possible litigation against Drax. In such a case, “they (lawyers) are the ones getting the money,” Sterling said.
Norwood said allegations that the Drax violation was covered up are false, noting it appeared in the newspaper when the penalty was levied. The Enterprise-Journal ran a Page 1 article Feb. 24 headlined “Drax to pay state $2.5M.”
“I’m not standing up for big industry. I’m standing up for the town of Gloster,” Norwood said.
He said MDEQ is strict on enforcing environmental regulations.
“If we are in violation of that (sewer) lagoon, won’t DEQ come down?” he said.
“We take samples all the time,” Sterling said. “DEQ was on the site today.”
Norwood also scoffed at the notion aired at Friday’s meeting that MDEQ should share some of the penalty money with town residents.
“They ask why DEQ doesn’t give people the money. Has anybody ever heard of that?” he said.
Drax built its Amite BioEnergy mill in Gloster in 2014, buying local timber and converting it to pellets to ship to Great Britain for use as power plant fuel.
Dogwood Alliance opposes the wood pellet industry. According to an Alliance flyer passed out prior to the meeting, “The job creation is momentary because once the trees and forests are gone, so will be the industry. Cutting trees and forests are harmful to the environment because trees capture carbon and give off oxygen which we need to live.
“The wood pellet plants are harmful because they pollute the air with particulate matter and can cause respiratory issues over time. They are putting low-income communities at risk of health issues which promotes environmental racism.”
Instead of logging, the Alliance recommends “defending and reestablishing natural forests.”
The Alliance also distributed a “resolution in opposition to wood pellets manufacturing and use of wood-bioenergy.”
