UK-owned pellet plant in US fined $2.5m over air quality breaches

A facility in the US supplying wood pellets to the UK for green electricity has been fined $2.5m for breaching air pollution rules.

The plant in Gloster, Mississippi, is owned by North Yorkshire-based power generator Drax.

It converts trees from the southern states into wood pellets, which are then shipped to the UK for use at the firm's power station near Selby.

The fine was imposed by the Mississippi Department for Environmental Quality.

It relates to breaches regarding levels of volatile organic compounds (VOC's) at the plant.

A spokesperson for Drax said: "We take our environmental responsibilities seriously and we are committed to complying with all local and federal regulations.

"The safety of our people and the communities in which we operate is our priority.

"We monitor our emissions and when we saw that they were above the required level... we notified the regional environment agency."

The firm said it was working with the agency to resolve issues at the plant "as quickly as possible".

Work to install new equipment is due to be completed by July, it said.

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