CORRECTION: The original article incorrectly stated that as part of the settlement, Enviva would be cutting the amount of raw material going through its hammermill by 85%. The 85% limit was already part of the plant’s plans, but was not explicit in its permit. Enviva will make this limit explicit per the settlement. The article has been updated to reflect this.
HAMLET — Enviva Pellets Hamlet, LLC and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Division of Air Quality (DAQ) on Monday reached a settlement with Clean Air Carolina (CAC) in which the wood pellet processing company agreed to a new round of measures to control emissions and to submit semi-annual output reports to CAC for review.
In January, Enviva modified its permit with the DAQ 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 minor source of pollution in exchange for adding new emission controls.
DAQ issued the permit based on an analysis of the estimated emissions from the Hamlet facility along with other nearby emissions sources in Dobbins Heights and Hamlet, which found that that if the company complies with the conditions in the new permit, its emissions would comply with National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
CAC alleged that this permit violated the North Carolina Pollution Control Act, the federal Clean Air Act by improperly classifying the Hamlet plant as a minor source of pollution, failing to impose certain limits on emissions, “arbitrarily relying on emission estimates in the air permit application” and failing to provide a “reasoned response” to public comments made prior to the awarding of the permit, according to the settlement.
Without admitting to the claims against them, Enviva has agreed to within 30 days apply for a permit modification which will add language limiting the plant’s dry hammermill throughput (amount of raw material passing through a system) to 85% of the plant’s total pellet production, provide CAC with a semi-annual summary report on the plant’s throughput, and within 180 days apply for a permit to install a regenerative thermal or catalytic oxidizer, a technology that controls emissions, on the plant’s dry hammermills which do the bulk of the wood pellet processing.
Enviva Hamlet was already planning to operate under the 85% limit to the raw material passing through the dry hammermill, but adding this language to the permit makes this an enforceable limit. Enviva Pellets Sampson has also settled with DAQ on an agreement to add the same technology to its hammermills.
Maria Moreno, director of communications for Enviva, said in statement that the controls laid out in this agreement are consistent with those being installed at their other facilities, including those in Northampton County and in Southampton County, Virginia.
“Enviva’s manufacturing plants are designed and built to meet or exceed all air quality permitting guidelines. We seek to use the best possible environmental control technology available, and we work closely with environmental regulators to ensure compliance with the Clean Air Act,” Moreno said. “Enviva works tirelessly to minimize the impact of our operations on the local communities where we operate by demonstrating our continued commitment to environmental stewardship.
“We have always worked to ensure that we comply with all environmental law requirements and address public concerns raised in our business,” she continued.
In a statement, June Blotnik, executive director of CAC, celebrated the settlement.
“Residents of Richmond County already face some of the worst health outcomes in our state,” said June Blotnick, Executive Director of Clean Air Carolina. “The new air pollution controls required by this settlement will decrease hazardous air pollutants and VOC (volatile organic compounds) emissions, reducing two additional threats to the communities’ health.”
Enviva is set to begin operations in July.