Wood pellet plants pose a risk to our forests — and our health

Re-printed with permission from Washington State Standard

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As Washington residents who live near Longview and Hoquiam, we are concerned about two wood pellet plants proposed for construction in these Washington communities. These mega-plants could soon compete with existing industries to buy timber, wood chips, and sawmill residues as raw material for wood pellet manufacture.  The wood pellets would be exported and burned in power plants in Asia to generate electricity. 

Some critics have raised concerns about how these industrial-scale wood pellet plants could lead to the overharvesting of Pacific Northwest forests, similar to how large swaths of forests in the southeastern U.S. were logged despite promises that the plants would only use leftover timber scraps. This is a serious concern, compounded by recent federal cuts that could lead to lax forestry oversight. But another equally important concern on the minds of Washington residents is this: How will our health be harmed?

These concerns are not hypothetical. Those of us who live in the communities targeted for pellet-plant construction are learning about the serious health impacts associated with these plants. We have spent hours on the phone talking with people who live in the South, where the wood pellet industry is already established.      

There’s no way around it – producing wood pellets from forest biomass is dirty, noisy and bad for our health. Making industrial wood pellets releases hazardous air pollutants, dust and fine particles. Colleagues from the South who live near these facilities describe how dust is ever-present in the air, clinging to every surface and burrowing deep into residents’ lungs.

Micro-particles are released by industrial biomass plants, worsening asthma, causing other significant respiratory issues and can even trigger heart attacks in vulnerable individuals. The release of particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less is of particular concern because these particles penetrate the lungs and enter the bloodstream.

Other pollutants emitted in large quantities include acetaldehyde and formaldehyde, both probable carcinogens, and acrolein, a toxic substance that affects the eyes, skin, nose, and throat and can cause respiratory disease. 

And then there’s the noise. Hammer mills, the machines that break down trees and wood chips into the wood fibers used to make the pellets, are described as “like the loudest train whistle you’ve ever heard, but constant.” The facility proposed for Hoquiam, similar in size to the plant proposed for Longview, is less than a mile from the Hoquiam High School and Middle School buildings and even closer to the Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge, one of the most important stopovers for migratory birds on the entire Pacific flyway.  

One of the pellet companies trying to set up in Washington, Drax Global, a U.K. company positioning to open the Longview plant, currently operates wood pellet plants in several southern states. In the last few years, the state of Mississippi fined Drax $2.5 million for violating air emissions limits, and Drax agreed to pay $3.2 million in pollution-related settlements in Louisiana.

Fortunately, we’ve learned about the harms to communities from these plants before they’ve taken root in the Northwest. In Hoquiam, local and national conservation groups challenged an air discharge permit for Pacific Northwest Renewable Energy on the grounds that its pollution estimates were too low. A Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board hearing for this appeal is planned for May. 

Drax was similarly moving forward with its facility in Longview but withdrew its permit following scrutiny by its regional clean air agency.

We oppose the construction of these wood pellet plants in Hoquiam and Longview because of the pollution these plants would bring, and because the industry has not been honest about the health harms they cause in nearby communities.

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