Drax faces lawsuits over claims staff developed asthma from wood dust

Ten lawsuits have been filed against Drax after diagnoses of asthma were allegedly linked to its wood pellet fuel, it has been revealed.

- Bertie Harrison-Broninski Jaysim Hanspal

Current and former workers at the UK's largest power station claim they have not been adequately protected against sustained exposure to wood dust, which can cause serious health problems including asthma, dermatitis and nasal cancer.

Six compensation claims were settled out of court and four cases have trial dates in 2026, an investigation by Land and Climate Review found.

A class action lawsuit was also filed against the company this month over health concerns in the US, representing 700 people who live near a Drax wood pellet mill in Mississippi. The company is also being investigated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority over "historical statements" made about its wood pellet fuel.

Drax power station was built to burn coal, but has relied fully on biomass since 2023. The conversion took place over two decades, funded with billions in subsidies from UK bill payers. The government is negotiating Drax's next biomass subsidy contract, to run from 2027 to 2031.

Drax's pellets are made by compressing wood dust at high pressures and are then ground back into dust in mills at the Yorkshire site before being burned.

Neil Lindridge, a former mechanical fitter at Drax, described the dust as "so fine that you can only see it in sunlight". Martyn Sweet, another former worker, said that he and others in the onsite mills "weren't told anything" before Drax began trialling biomass in the 2000s.