WILMINGTON, N.C. — The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality has approved plans to address fugitive dust pollution coming from Enviva's wood pellet plants in Wilmington, North Carolina, and from the wood-chipping company Basaga International also in Wilmington.

In 2024, after investigating citizen complaints regarding off-site dust impacts near the Port of Wilmington, North Carolina, the Division of Air Quality (DAQ) required two facilities in Port of Wilmington —, Enviva Pellets and Basaga International — to adopt additional fugitive dust control measures. 

The fugitive dust, called "wooden snow" by a nearby neighbor who was quoted by WECT in Wilmington, "got to a point where it was covering our cars, we couldn’t go outside and enjoy the backyard or the front yard because we would inhale the stuff, it was terrible,” said Michael Elder, who has lived in Sunset Park for 20 years."

Following two formal complaints to DEQ, the state required the manufacturers Enviva Pallets and Basaga International to adopt fugitive dust control plans in June of 2024.

State regulation requires a facility to prevent fugitive dust from extending beyond its property boundaries and causing or contributing to substantive complaints or excess fugitive dust emissions. DAQ requires a facility to develop and implement a fugitive dust control plan after the Division observes excess dust leaving a property’s boundary or substantiates two dust complaints within a 12-month period.

DAQ notified Enviva Pellets, LLC – Wilmington Port, the wood pellet manufacturer’s storage and shipping facility on Turtle Dove Court in Wilmington, that it will be required to develop a fugitive dust control plan after DAQ identified that facility as the source of two substantiated fugitive dust complaints. The plan must identify the sources of fugitive dust at the facility and methods to control the dust. DAQ must review and approve the plan before it will be implemented.

DAQ also required Basaga International, a wood-chipping facility on in Wilmington to develop a fugitive dust control plan after identifying it as the source of multiple dust complaints from nearby residences. 

According to Port City Daily, some of the requirements include enhanced monitoring during ship loading. Associates must record wind speed and direction every three hours, and if winds from the west exceed 10 miles per hour, a second observer must be deployed to watch closely for dust. If any fugitive dust is observed leaving the property or if a citizen complaint is received, employees are immediately required to stop work until the dust source is investigated and fully mitigated.

A detailed fugitive dust complaint log of all incidents and actions taken must be kept, with the entire plan subject to an annual review by DEQ. The plan also imposes a two-year record-keeping requirement for all operational documentation and stipulates Enviva must cross-reference on-site dust observations with official wind data from the Wilmington International Airport.