The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Call for inquiry after latest flaring at chemical plant
MOSSMORRAN: Cross-party pressure for probe into site
Fresh calls have been made for an independent inquiry into Mossmorran chemical plant after the latest incident of intense flaring.
On the same day the start of flaring was accompanied by thick smoke at Fife Ethylene Plant, there was a cross-party call for Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham to reconsider Fife Council’s request for an independent inquiry into flaring.
In a letter from Cowdenbeath Labour MP Lesley Laird, signed by Labour, Conservative and Green politicians, the ability of Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) to regulate the site was also called into question.
ExxonMobil said yesterday it was shutting down the plant to allow engineers to carry out repairs to boilers which had failed. The petrochemicals giant again apologised to communities.
Mrs Laird said: “Even beyond the serious concerns of health, trust and confidence in the plant operation there is now increasing alarm about the ineffectiveness of Sepa to adequately address and act on the continuing non-compliance with the operating permit for this site.”
Another incident of “high volume flaring” at Mossmorran has coincided with a renewed call for an independent inquiry into the Fife petrochemical plant’s operations.
ExxonMobil was yesterday preparing for an unplanned shutdown of Fife Ethylene Plant (FEP) after two of its three boilers failed, resulting in intense flaring which started late on Monday night.
The flaring happened just hours after cross-party letters from Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath Labour MP Lesley Laird, signed by Labour, Conservative and Green politicians, were sent to environment secretary Roseanna Cunningham urging her to reconsider the decision not to hold an independent inquiry and calling into question the ability of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) to regulate the site.
Mrs Laird said: “Even beyond the serious concerns of health, trust and confidence in the plant operation, there is now increasing alarm about the ineffectiveness of Sepa to adequately address and act on the continuing non-compliance with the operating permit for this site.”
A Scottish Government spokesman responded: “We are clear that prolonged, unplanned flaring is unacceptable.
“Sepa is currently responding to the latest flaring incident and carrying out a formal investigation into prolonged, unplanned flaring earlier this year.
“We are awaiting the conclusion of that investigation before deciding on the most appropriate course of action.”
ExxonMobil, which operates FEP at Mossmorran, apologised again to communities after the huge flare could be seen from miles away.
The flaring at FEP is not related to planned flaring at the Shell-run Fife NGL (Natural Gas Liquids) plant at Mossmorran. Earlier this month, it was announced there would be “low intensity” flaring from the Fife NGL stack for three days starting on Saturday.
Following the latest incident, FEP manager Jacob McAlister said: “We can confirm that we have experienced mechanical failure across two of our three boilers.
“Flaring will be required while our team take the steps required to safely shut down operations.
“We, again, apologise if flaring is causing any concern but reiterate that the process is safe and poses no risk to communities.”
James Glen, chairman of Mossmorran Action Group, described the flaring as “apocalyptic” and said neighbouring residents were again suffering noise and light pollution, and sleepless nights.
Meanwhile, Sepa said it was monitoring air quality in Lochgelly and “deploying further monitoring capabilities”.
“
We are awaiting the conclusion of that investigation before deciding on the most appropriate course of action. SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN