Residents express concern as black smoke spreads over Fife

Plume of thick black smoke filled the air around the plant following several days of flaring, noise and light pollution

The operators of a Fife chemical plant have apologised after it sent smoke belching into the atmosphere.

Alarmed local communities expressed concern after the smoke from the Fife Ethylene Plant at Mossmorran hung over the countryside for several hours on Sunday night.

Fifers said they had never seen anything like the pollution pouring from the plant at the weekend.

It followed several days of flaring, noise, vibration and light pollution, although the company said the smoke was caused by a separate issue.

Insisting there was no danger to the community or employees, an ExxonMobil spokesman said: “The flaring is the result of a sudden, temporary disruption to the feedstock process for the plant during the evening of Sunday June 18.

“The flaring is a separate issue from last week’s process upset, which was resolved on Saturday at 9.20am.

“We aim to keep flaring to a minimum and are currently in the process of resuming normal operations.”

Police Scotland took several calls from the public on Sunday night and issued a statement saying it was nothing to be concerned about. People were not convinced however, and took to social media to express their fears.

Lochgelly-based community blog, Loch Of Shining Waters, claimed the smoke was an indication hydrocarbons had not been fully combusted.

“The emission is likely to contain volatile organic compounds which are known to exacerbate asthma and other respiratory problems,” they said.

Locals are forming an action group to tackle issues around the Mossmorran site.

Recent flaring has been visible from as far away as Angus and East Lothian and there have been complaints the noise has caused homes to vibrate.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency said it was aware of the “unplanned incident” and was in touch with operators to understand what had happened and what they were doing to stop it.

The flaring is the result of a sudden, temporary disruption to the feedstock process for the plant...

Alarmed residents were not reassured by the Mossmorran plant owner’s claim that the flaring and black smoke are nothing to be concerned about.