The promise of jobs and economic revival has turned into a nightmare of toxic air and health fears for residents of a small Mississippi town, who are now suing the British energy behemoth they blame. People in Gloster allege that the Amite Bioenergy wood pellet plant, operated by Drax, has unlawfully exposed their community to dangerous pollutants, with devastating personal consequences.
A Community's Health Crisis
When the Drax facility opened in Gloster in 2014, many in the low-income, majority-Black town of 850 people welcomed the prospect of revitalisation. Helen Reed was among those initially hopeful, but her outlook soon changed. "When I go out, I can’t hardly catch my breath," she said. "Everything is worse since Drax came here."
The plant produces billions of wood pellets annually, primarily for export to the UK and Europe, where they are burned for electricity and classified as a sustainable, renewable alternative to coal. However, the manufacturing process emits significant quantities of air pollutants linked to cancer and serious illness, including methanol, acrolein, and formaldehyde.
In a lawsuit filed in October, residents accuse Drax of exposing them to "massive amounts of toxic pollutants." Carmella Wren-Causey, a plaintiff, began using an oxygen tank in 2020 for breathing problems she attributes to the mill. "We’re being poisoned slowly, right before our eyes," she said. "God gave me breath when he gave me life. Drax took it away."
A Pattern of Pollution and Penalties
Drax, which converted the UK's largest coal power station in Yorkshire to burn wood pellets, has faced mounting scrutiny over its environmental record on both sides of the Atlantic. In the US South, where it operates five large pellet mills among roughly 30 in the region, the company has accrued nearly $6 million in violations over the past four years.
In 2020, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) fined Drax $2.5 million after finding its Gloster mill was emitting an average of 796 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) per year—more than three times its permitted limit. Louisiana officials also reached a $3.2 million settlement with the company in 2022 for air quality violations.
Despite company investments in pollution controls, including a thermal oxidizer in Gloster, violations have continued. In late 2024, Drax agreed to pay $225,000 for exceeding limits on hazardous air pollutants like methanol. Patrick Anderson, an attorney who reviewed Drax's pollution history, noted the fines are inconsequential against Drax's profits, which reached $1.4 billion in 2024. "Drax is so profitable and so subsidized that it powers through all of this," he said.
Noise, Dust, and Failing Promises
The harm extends beyond chemical emissions. Researchers led by Erica Walker, a Brown University epidemiologist, found noise levels in Gloster were about 10 decibels higher than in a comparable town without a pellet mill—a difference she likened to "turning a faucet into Niagara Falls." Chronic noise exposure is linked to hypertension, heart issues, and anxiety.
Furthermore, the promised economic boom has largely failed to materialise. Drax's three large mills in Louisiana and Mississippi each employ only 70-80 people. In Gloster, just 15% of the plant's employees actually live in the community. For lifelong resident Mabel Williams, 87, the dream of a revitalised downtown remains just a memory of bustling shops and cafes. "Drax is making so much money," she said. "They’ve got to spend that money some kind of way, but they’re not spending it here."
The company maintains it operates responsibly. Matt White, Vice-President of Drax North America, stated, "We take our environmental responsibilities and compliance extremely seriously." A Drax spokesperson added that any suggestion of manipulating operations to avoid detection is "completely false."
However, for residents like Robert Weatherspoon, who once jogged daily but now struggles to breathe, and those who report foul odours and a dusty coating on their properties, the evidence is in the air they breathe. As the legal battle proceeds, the people of Gloster serve as a stark warning about the localised costs of a global energy transition fueled by biomass.
