By the end of 2015, if all goes as expected, a forest the size of Fayetteville will be fed into two huge wood pellet plants to create energy for European industry. That much everyone agrees on. Whether it’s a good thing remains a subject of debate.
Loggers, forestry experts and state officials say the construction of two plants by wood pellet manufacturer Enviva will spur economic growth. They hope the facilities will revive an in-state industry hit hard by recession and a lingering decline in pulp production. Environmental interests decry the increase of forest harvest and a loss of wildlife habitat. They fear the logging will encroach on older forests, especially in southeast North Carolina, and diminish the quality of life for those living near the plants. And they compare the practice of exporting the pellets to old European imperialism, stripping other country’s resources for their gain.
In the middle sits more than 25,000 square miles of North Carolina timberland – more than half the state’s total area. Each year the two mills planned for the Cape Fear region will require an estimated 100,000 acres, or about 150 square miles, of forest to keep up with demand.
The proposed plants would be built by a Maryland company named Enviva, one of the largest names in wood pellet production in Europe. But officials don’t use the name “Enviva” around the offices of the Sampson County Economic Development Commission. “There’s a confidentiality agreement in place,” said John Swope, the commission’s executive director. “So I can’t talk about a specific company.” What he can talk about is what’s known as “Project 355,” which refers to a 200-acre undeveloped site off Interstate 40’s Exit 355 in northeastern Sampson County. That’s where the county hopes to house a 40-acre plant that will convert a half-million tons of wood into pellets the width of a pencil and the length of a child’s finger each year.
From The Fayetteville Observer: https://www.fayobserver.com/news/local/sampson-county-wood-pellet-plant-economic-growth-vs-environmental-effects/article_bb680ae3-db19-544c-9289-de72e714927d.html