Enviva Chairman and CEO Releases Statement Following Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality Permit Board’s Unanimous Approval of Permit for Lucedale Construction
BETHESDA, MD —July 15, 2019 — On July 9, 2019, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality Permit Board, after an extensive review process that included an extended public comment period, a well-attended public hearing in Lucedale, and hundreds of public comments, unanimously approved Enviva’s permit to begin construction on its Lucedale, Mississippi wood pellet plant.
Enviva’s Chairman and CEO John Keppler issued the following statement:
“We want to thank the community of Lucedale. We received overwhelming support from community members, small business owners, and environmental and conservation leaders.
We want to thank the state of Mississippi and George County. We have been in the Amory, Mississippi community for almost a decade, so we already know that Mississippi is a great place to do business. We appreciate the support of the many elected officials who have encouraged us to grow in this state.
We want to solve big challenges. Renewable wood energy is an important part of the renewable energy sector. Enviva, and the broad forest products industry in Mississippi, are moving us toward a more sustainable future.
We want to help grow more forests. The key to keeping forests as forests is strong demand for forest products. That raises the value landowners can get from keeping their land as managed forests. Because of this strong market, private forest owners in the Southeast are growing 40% more wood than they remove every year.
We want to create products here in America that we can export to other countries. Wood pellets are an export success story, and the new $60 million shipping terminal we’re building in Pascagoula, Mississippi is a part of this great story.
We want to create more jobs in rural communities. We are starting construction on the Lucedale facility soon, and are proud to have the opportunity to create about 90 direct jobs in Lucedale, 30 direct jobs in Pascagoula, and hundreds of additional indirect and construction jobs.
We want to continue to be a good partner in the communities where we work and live. We have worked hard not only to provide good jobs and promote environmental stewardship, but also to listen to the needs of our neighbors, partners, suppliers, and associates. We want to be a sustainable resource for every community we are in. Whether that’s working with local schools, emergency responders, non-profit organizations, or conservation groups, we believe this is the responsibility of every company.
You have our commitment: We will work tirelessly — every day — to be a company that Lucedale is proud to have in its community. Thank you for welcoming us home.”
About Enviva Holdings, LP
Enviva Holdings, LP is the world’s largest producer of wood pellets, a renewable and sustainable energy source used to generate electricity and heat. Through its subsidiaries, Enviva Holdings, LP owns and operates wood pellet processing plants and deep-water export terminals in the Southeastern United States. We export our pellets primarily to power plants in the United Kingdom and Europe that previously were fueled by coal, enabling them to reduce their lifetime carbon footprint by about 80 percent. We make our pellets using sustainable practices that protect Southern forests and employ about 1000 people and support many other businesses in the rural South, where jobs and economic opportunity are sometimes scarce. Enviva Holdings, LP conducts its activities primarily through two entities: Enviva Partners, LP, a publicly-traded master limited partnership (NYSE: EVA), and Enviva Development Holdings, LLC, a wholly owned private company. To learn more about Enviva Holdings, LP, please visit our website at www.envivabiomass.com and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Cautionary Note Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements and information in this press release, including those concerning future results of operations, acquisition opportunities, and distributions, may constitute “forward-looking statements.” The words “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “intend,” “foresee,” “should,” “would,” “could,” or other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, which are generally not historical in nature. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects. Although management believes that these forward-looking statements are reasonable when made, there can be no assurance that future developments will be those that management anticipates. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from our historical experience and our present expectations or projections.
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