CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated in its headline and first paragraph that the permit would allow Enviva to expand its logging practices. The company does not do logging, instead sourcing unused materials from loggers to create their wood pellets, and the permit has nothing to do with logging. The permit allows the company to expand its production of the pellets, which was stated correctly in the body of the original article. The article has been updated to reflect this change.

RALEIGH — The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality issued an air permit to Enviva Pellets Hamlet on Monday, which will allow the company to expand its production of wood pellets while putting it under stricter emission regulations.

The company sought to modify its Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) permit to allow it to increase its production of wood pellets from 537,625 oven-dried tons per year to 625,011 and to be reclassified as a PSD Minor stationary source of pollution by adding on more pollution control devices.

The major changes from the draft permit and the final permit are that instead of only initial testing for certain pollutants, the company will be required to test for the pollutants annually at the minimum with additional tests required any time the monthly production rate or softwood percentage in the pellets increases by more than 10 percent over the rates of the initial performance test.

The Division of Air Quality analyzed the estimated emissions from the Hamlet facility and other nearby emissions sources in nearby Dobbins Heights and Hamlet and found that if the company complies with the final permit, the emissions would comply with National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

“We are pleased to receive our permit and would like to thank the Department of Air Quality for their hard work throughout this process,” stated Yana Kravtsova, Enviva’s vice president of environmental affairs and chief compliance officer, in an emailed statement Monday. “We are excited to proceed with construction of our Hamlet facility. We look forward to providing future employment within the community and contributing to healthy forests and economic prosperity in Richmond County for many years to come.”

Dogwood Alliance, a nonprofit that works to protect forests from industrial logging, condemned the decision by DEQ and Governor Roy Cooper for allowing the wood pellet industry to grow in the state despite despite Cooper’s executive order in October that outlined a new commitment by North Carolina to address climate change.

“The Cooper administration and NC Department of Environmental Quality continue to take one step forward and two steps back on forests, environmental justice and the climate crisis in North Carolina,” said Adam Colette, Program Director at Dogwood Alliance, in an emailed statement Monday. “Even with advanced air quality controls, allowing Enviva to increase logging and degrade natural flood protections directly in the region of our state where major storms have devastated communities is an injustice to all North Carolinians.

Enviva itself does not practice logging, instead sourcing its materials from others in the logging industry.

“The residents of Richmond County, who were denied the opportunity to provide meaningful public input when the plant was originally permitted, continue to disproportionately bear the injustices of this industry,” the statement continued. “We hoped the administration would be a champion for forests and communities, clearly we are still waiting for that day to come.”

The full public information on the permit is available online at deq.nc.gov/EnvivaHamlet.

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Reach Gavin Stone at 910-817-2674 or [email protected].