Drax Group (LSE:DRX) has repeatedly cancelled meetings on the pollution concerns raised by residents in a Mississippi town related to the company's local biomass production plant.
Residents from Gloster, in southwest Mississippi, had been preparing to hit the FTSE 250-listed energy generator with a wave of demands last month before the meeting was cancelled for a second year running.
According to locals, air quality has worsened in the area since the plant opened in 2016, due to pollution released during the manufacturing process of wooden pellets.
Having faced a US$2.5 million fine in 2021 for breaching air quality rules, Drax-owned plant operator Amite BioEnergy was warned over its violation of emission rules by the state’s environmental regulator in May this year.
As a result of the pollution, and claims of deteriorating health, residents had been poised to demand air quality monitors and a cease to the plant’s night-time operations.
Calls from the locals come as Drax faces scrutiny from environmentalists in the UK.
Climate group Ember reported last week that the company’s north Yorkshire power station, which burns chips such as those created in Mississippi, was the UK’s single largest source of emissions last year.
This is despite its label as the UK’s largest renewable power station, given the biomass fuel burned to produce power is classed as carbon neutral.
According to Drax, the meeting was cancelled due to “an unexpected scheduling clash.”
“We weren’t really expecting them to answer any of our questions anyway,” Gloster community head Krystal Martin said in response.
“We just want to see action from Drax.”