Devastating Community Health Study on #Drax #WoodPellet Plant

Written by Naya Black, August 7th, 2024

"#GlosterMississippi is a small, rural, mostly Black community in Amite County, Mississippi. It spans 1.8 square miles with around 900 residents. Residents are facing the harsh reality of a median income below $15,000 in 2021.
Introduction of the #AmiteBioEnergy Pellet Plant

"In 2015, Amite BioEnergy, a part of the UK’s #DraxGroup, started making #WoodPellets pellets in Gloster. Industry markets wood pellets as #ecofriendly . They get big subsidies from the #EU to supposedly fight climate change. Drax has a permit to emit up to 25 tons of harmful #AirPollutants and 249 tons of volatile organic compounds (#VOCs) per year. But since 2016, Drax has consistently gone over these limits. Drax even paid a $2.5 million fine for it.

What Types of Pollutants Do Wood Pellet Plants Produce?

"#WoodPelletPlants emit many #AirPollutants , including:

nitrogen oxides (#NOx)
#GreenhouseGas like carbon dioxide, methane, and sulfur dioxide
volatile organic compounds (#VOCs)
particulate matter (#PM) 2.5

"Sleep is critical to health, so 24/7 #NoisePollution is also a concern.

What Are the Short-term Effects of This Air Pollution?

"These air pollutants are harmful to residents breathing them in. They can cause:

coughing
trouble breathing
skin rashes
severe allergic reactions

What Are the Long-term Effects of This Air Pollution?

"The long-term effects of air pollution are #chronic. They’re also much worse than the short-term effects. Some are even life-threatening. Added to the short-term effects, the long-term effects can be:

shortness of breath
nausea
headaches
cardiovascular disease
lung disease
heart attack
stroke"

Read more:
https://dogwoodalliance.org/2024/08/devastating-community-health-study-on-drax-wood-pellet-plant/

#EnvironmentalRacism #AirPollution #ProfitOverPeople
#CorporateColonialism
#SaveCanadianForests #SaveUKForests #SaveCaliforniaForests #SaveTheForest
#OldGrowthForests #Greenwashing #EnvironmentalActivism
#BigForest #DraxPowerStation

Holding #Drax accountable

via @Freedom_Press
Aug 12th

Despite raid on #CimateCamp, #activists link up with #Mississippi fence-line community

"Climate campaigners this weekend Saturday (August 10) held an online conversation with community activists in #GlosterMississippi, who shared their experiences of resisting a polluting #WoodPellet factory owned by UK multinational Drax. The UK climate camp, planned to take place last weekend near Drax power station, was cancelled after a pre-emptive raid by police.

"The 22 arrestees have since been released, but the police impounded essential infrastructure, effectively shtting down the event. Nevertheless, the event went ahead after moving indoors.

"Gloster is a low-income, mostly Black community in Amite County, #Mississippi. In 2015, #AmiteBioEnergy, a part of the #DraxGroup, started making wood pellets in Gloster. #Biomass wood pellets are compressed dried wood chips and sawdust, compressed into pellets at high pressure. The Drax factory received a permit to emit up to 25 tons of harmful #AirPollutants and 249 tons of volatile organic compounds (#VOCs) per year.

"But since 2016, Drax has consistently gone over these limits, in one instance being fined $2.5 million. This was the largest in a much longer series of fines for environmental violations by various companies operating wood pellet factories in the US.

"In the online event, the campaigners from Mississippi discussed the physical and mental health effects of persistent #AirPollution, including the highest rate of mortaility from heart disease in the state of Mississippi. The community has no local medical doctors, and residents have to spend hours commuting to access medical.

"According to local resident Jimmy Brown, 'our legislators aren’t doing us any justice because they didn’t inform any citizens about what going on, so that’s up to us'.

"Activists on both sides of the Atlantic vowed to hold Drax accountable. 'We cannot let them continue to put profit over the planet and over our people', said Gloster organiser Krystal Nicole Martin, 'they need to leave tour community'.

~ Jane Alison

https://freedomnews.org.uk/2024/08/12/holding-drax-accountable/

#ProfitOverPeople #CorporateColonialism #SaveCanadianForests #SaveUKForests #SaveCaliforniaForests #SaveTheForest #OldGrowthForsts #Greenwashing #EnvironmentalActivism #BigForest #DraxPowerStation #SilencingDissent

#OilAndGas emissions in #Utah a threat to public health, report says

#Pollutants released into the atmosphere with excess #NaturalGas create smog and endanger public health, especially in #Duschesne and #Uintah counties.

by Anastasia Hufham, Oct. 21, 2023

"When natural gas producers waste gas and emit #methane in Utah, it’s not only the economy that suffers, according to a report. Air quality, public health and the environment lose out, too.

"'It’s not just methane,' Ashley Miller, executive director of Breathe Utah, told The Salt Lake Tribune. 'It’s other hazardous #AirPollutants that we really care about for public health. When you have a real serious air quality problem in these areas, there’s people living in these areas, and we want to protect human health as much as we can.'

"In 2016, the report says, air pollution from the oil and gas industry led to eight deaths per million, as well as 1,040 asthma exacerbations per million among #children.

"Oil and gas production sites emit what are called volatile organic compounds, or #VOCs, according to the report, when companies release natural gas into the atmosphere through #flaring, #venting and #leaking.

"Volatile organic compounds create ground-level #ozone, better known as #smog, which is a major public health concern in Utah. The report notes that volatile organic compounds in smog can worsen respiratory conditions, like #asthma, and even cause #HeartDisease. Also, #benzene, another pollutant released during oil and gas production, has been proven to cause #cancer.

The report was published by Synapse Energy Economics, Inc., a research and consulting firm; the Environmental Defense Fund, a nonprofit focused on finding solutions to environmental pollution; and Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan watchdog group that advocates for the responsible use of taxpayer dollars.

"The report states that Utah’s #FossilFuel producers released 16 billion cubic feet of natural gas in 2019, and 87% was lost from wells leaking natural gas due to faulty equipment.

"Duschesne and Uintah counties — where 85% of oil and gas wells are concentrated in the state — received F grades from the American Lung Association’s State of the Air report this year. Those two counties cover the Uinta Basin, where the #Uintah and #Ouray Indian Reservation is also located.

"'We really understand the importance and value of the fossil fuel industry in Utah, especially to those communities where it’s really the only source of revenue and jobs,' Miller said.

"Petroleum production in the Uinta Basin isn’t slowing down. The oil industry is booming in Duschesne and Uintah counties, and statewide oil and gas employment grew by 16% between 2021 and 2022.

"Emissions from oil and gas production also have concerning environmental impacts. Oil and gas production is a large emitter of methane, a #GreenhouseGas more powerful than carbon dioxide, which is the largest component of natural gas.

"The Environmental Protection Agency has issued a proposal to reduce methane emissions by ensuring that wells are checked frequently for leaks using monitoring equipment. The proposal would also require companies to continue monitoring wells for emissions until they are plugged after production."

https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2023/10/21/oil-gas-emissions-utah-threat/

#EnvironmentalRacism #CorporateColonialism #BigOilAndGas

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/28/ulez-key-to-tackling-unacceptably-high-child-illness-and-death-doctors-say

#dirtyair: According to data published by Public Health England, #airpollution is the single largest #environmental #risk to #publichealth, and is linked to between 28,000 and 36,000 UK deaths a year. The estimated #cost to the NHS and #socialcare of #airpollutants is estimated to be £1.6bn between 2017 and 2025.
#ulez #CarFreeCityCentersPlease #walkablecities #keepitintheground