Local residents must decide whether the economic benefits are worth the environmental risks

There is mixed industry news in the pine forests of southwest Mississippi. What is produced in these deep forests excites environmentalists and other regulators in the small town of Gloster in Amite County, while also playing a profitable economic role in this part of the state.

Drax, based in North Yorkshire, England, a leading producer of wood pellets sourced from what it calls “sustainably managed forestry and low-value commercial residues”, operates the Amite BioEnergy mill, employing 70 people in Gloster, 40 miles west of McComb National Road 24.

The addition of those jobs eight years after lumber giant Georgia-Pacific closed its Gloster plywood plant in 2008 was monumental for the financially struggling town of about 900 residents.

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality recently fined the company $250,000 for releasing volatile organic compound emissions since the plant opened in 2016. In 2020, DEQ fined Drax $2.5 million, at the time “one of the largest fines in state history” under the Clean Air Act, Mississippi Today’s Alex Rozier reported.

Drax defines biomass in the form of compressed wood pellets as “a low-emission replacement for coal that power plants use to generate renewable energy. Some countries are already using biomass as a fuel to generate electricity and heat from renewable sources.”

Despite the product’s popularity in other parts of the world, some scientists believe that the use of wood pellets increases the carbon content in the air.

Drax argues that “when used to generate heat and power, sustainable biomass releases significantly less carbon dioxide than fossil fuels.”

Some area residents have recently complained of breathing problems due to the plant’s disease. The company agreed to spend more than $100,000 over the next 300 days on the dust screen project.

The country’s progress is fueled by a large number of mill-type industrial facilities. Georgia-Pacific had about 400 employees before it closed, dealing what Gloster Mayor Jerry Norwood called a “devastating blow” to the city by putting it “on life support at this point.”

“Probably the biggest obstacle (to attracting new industry) is labor,” Norwood told Mississippi Today. “We don’t have enough people to fill these (skilled) positions, electricians and things like that. And we don’t have a school here in Gloster. The school closed in 1989. People don’t want to move here if their kids can’t get a quality education.”

Another large industrial facility of this type is located in Lucedale, an economically struggling city in George County, north of Mobile. He, too, was welcomed with open arms by local authorities upon his arrival in 2022. Meanwhile, a major fight broke out in Georgia after regulators approved a woodchip mill to help a utility there produce more electricity.

In a statement, Drax said it “helps create high-quality jobs for local residents and supports Mississippi communities while boosting the state’s economy.” The main question is whether this great economic development project, nestled among our state’s pristine pine forests, is worthy enough to offset the potentially bad environmental impacts on citizens.

Residents have to make a decision.

— Mac Gordon, a native of McComb, is a retired journalist. He can be contacted at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on the Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Multiple sclerosis residents must decide whether the economic benefits are worth the environmental risks