Power teams help clear beach
Power line specialists working on the Inner Hebridean island of Jura tackled plastic pollution on the island’s beach following the recent death of a stag found entangled in plastic tape.
Overhead line teams from PLPC working on Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks’ (SSEN) £1 million electricity network upgrade cleared washed-up waste from the beach and surrounding areas.
Paul Campbell, team coordinator at PLPC, said: ‘We saw reports in the media of a deer becoming trapped in some plastic tape close to where we were working on SSEN’s overhead line refurbishment works in Jura and took the opportunity to spend some time clearing the beach of waste gathered along the coastline.
‘Residents on the island mentioned plastic pollution had been getting worse over the past few years, so we wanted to do everything we could, as a considerate contractor, while we were working with SSEN to upgrade the island’s power supply.’
Ross Fenton, head of South Caledonia region at SSEN, added: ‘At SSEN, we pride ourselves on being a responsible network operator and our commitment goes beyond providing a safe and secure supply of electricity to our customers. It’s therefore vitally important we source competent contractors to work alongside our teams.
‘We’re delighted the PLPC team working in Jura took it upon themselves to support the local community in this way and I’d like to thank Paul and the team for going above and beyond while working with us on this project.’
SSEN is investing £1 million to refurbish the existing overhead electricity network on Jura, replacing equipment on the wooden electricity pole circuit from Lagg towards Islay that is exposed to salt water which can erode the equipment.
The project forms part of a multi-million-pound programme of investment to upgrade the electricity network serving Islay and Jura.
For more information on the Islay-Jura project, visit ssen.co.uk/IslayJura/