Residents of a small Mississippi town are taking a British energy behemoth to court, claiming its wood pellet factory is poisoning their community with toxic air and shattering their health. The lawsuit against Drax Group alleges the company's Amite Bioenergy plant in Gloster has unlawfully exposed locals to dangerous levels of pollutants.
A Town's Hope Turns to Health Crisis
When the Drax facility opened in Gloster in 2014, many of the town's 850 residents, in a low-income, majority-Black community, welcomed the promise of jobs and economic revival. However, that optimism has curdled into fear and illness. Locals report the mill has brought little more than noise, dust, and air that makes breathing a struggle.
"When I go out, I can't hardly catch my breath," said resident Helen Reed. "Everything is worse since Drax came here." The plant produces billions of wood pellets annually, shipped to the UK and Europe where they are burned for electricity and classified as renewable 'biomass'.
The lawsuit, filed in October, accuses Drax of releasing "massive amounts of toxic pollutants" including methanol, acrolein and formaldehyde, substances linked to cancer and serious respiratory conditions. Longtime resident and plaintiff Carmella Wren-Causey, who now uses an oxygen tank, said through tears: "God gave me breath when he gave me life. Drax took it away."
A Pattern of Pollution and Fines
Drax, which converted the UK's largest coal power station in Yorkshire to burn wood pellets, has a history of environmental violations on both sides of the Atlantic. In the US South, where it operates five large pellet mills, regulatory records reveal a consistent pattern.
In 2020, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) fined Drax $2.5 million after finding its Gloster mill was emitting 796 tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) per year – more than triple its permitted limit. In 2022, Louisiana officials secured a $3.2 million settlement from Drax for air quality violations, though the company admitted no wrongdoing.
Despite company promises and investments in pollution control technology like thermal oxidisers, penalties have continued. In late 2024, Drax agreed to pay $225,000 for exceeding limits on hazardous air pollutants like methanol at the Gloster site. The total penalties in Mississippi and Louisiana over four years approach $6 million.
Patrick Anderson, an attorney who reviewed Drax's pollution history, noted this is a minor cost for the firm, which reported adjusted profits of £1.4 billion in 2024. "Drax is so profitable and so subsidised that it powers through all of this," Anderson said. "The fines don't hurt their bottom line."
Scientific Evidence and Community Impact
Independent research appears to substantiate residents' fears. Epidemiologist Erica Walker from Brown University led a team that installed air monitors in Gloster. They found clouds of VOCs concentrated around the mill and neighbouring homes, with unexpected spikes at night.
"Literally, my first question when I visited Gloster was: 'Who zoned this?'" Walker said, noting the plant's proximity to a mobile home park and a children's daycare centre. Her research also found a correlation: the closer children lived to the mill, the heavier they were, a potential consequence of being kept indoors due to poor air quality.
The problems extend beyond chemicals. A 2024 noise exposure study found sound levels in Gloster, driven by mill operations and truck traffic, were about 10 decibels louder than in a comparable town without a pellet plant. Chronic noise exposure is linked to hypertension, heart issues, and anxiety.
Drax spokesperson Michelli Martin stated the company prioritises safety and environmental compliance. "We take our environmental responsibilities very seriously," Martin said, denying any manipulation of operations to avoid detection of pollution.
Broken Promises and a Fading Town
For many in Gloster, the economic promises have rung hollow. The town has lost over 20% of its population since 2000, and residents say the mill is hastening, not reversing, the decline. Each of Drax's large mills in the region employs only 70-80 people, and in Gloster, just 15% of the workforce are local residents.
Walking Gloster's largely vacant Main Street, 87-year-old Mabel Williams reminisced about a bustling past. "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."
Mayor Jerry Norwood has defended the plant, arguing small towns need such businesses for tax revenue. In an op-ed, he called depictions of Gloster as a "smog-filled nightmare" false. However, the legal action and scientific findings paint a starkly different picture of a community fighting for its health against a powerful international corporation.
