Oil firms should clean up sea

Sir, - I saw the Brent Delta topsides being delivered to Teesside on Tuesday in a single lift. This is a quantum leap in technology given the Alseas Pioneering Spirit is the first vessel to handle this dangerous task for the second time.

It is also designed to remove the jacket (the structure supporting the topsides) but not this structure.

Shell intend to leave this concrete structure in place. This cannot be allowed as it is a hazard to shipping and also requires decontamination.

It has many large tanks for ballast, oil, drilling mud and fuel, all of which are a risk to the environment. The original licence issued by the UK Government stated the seabed should be returned to its previous state at the end of the well’s useful life.

Shell say it was not designed to be removed and would be an unsafe operation. Mobil Oil installed the Statfjord A in the same area in 1977. Statoil have a plan to remove the complete structure at some time in the future.

All the concrete jackets are a Condeep design and similar. They were built vertically then floated out to location and this process now needs to be reversed.

I am sure the Pioneering Spirit has included this type of removal in its design.

Will all the other concrete structures in the UK sector get dispensation also? I think not. Shell and the UK Government made huge profits in the last 40 years and now they need to live up to the original agreement and do as was agreed. George Sangster. Woodlands, Logie Craigo, Montrose.