Also this week, Drax — the company that bills itself as the UK’s largest source of renewable electricity — quietly agreed to pay out a further $3.2m to settle air pollution claims in the United States, according to a major investigation by Unearthed.
Documents show that last month the company agreed two settlements of $1.6m apiece with the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, to settle claims against two of its wood pellet plants in the state for air quality breaches.
These settlements — which relate to claims dating back to 2019 against pellet plants in Bastrop, Louisiana and Urania, Louisiana — come after Drax was fined $2.5m for air pollution violations in the town of Gloster, Mississippi.
The company’s mills in Gloster and Bastrop are sited next to majority-Black communities with high poverty rates. American critics say that while Drax presents itself as green in the UK its operations have driven “environmental racism” in the US — allowing communities of colour to be disproportionately exposed to polluting industries.
Drax burns wood pellets as a substitute for coal at its massive power plant in Yorkshire. The decision to substitute coal for wood pellets has allowed Drax to receive significant amounts of money from the UK government in green energy subsidies.
Drax denies it committed any violations at its Louisiana plants and agreed the settlement payments without admitting liability.
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