Shooting the messenger will corrode trust

Madam, – ExxonMobil should get its facts right before it rushes to attack me and the Mossmorran Action Group (Mossmorran operator hits back at councillor criticism, Courier, October 1).

First and most important, neither I nor the board of the Mossmorran Action Group has ever called for the closure of the plant.

We are well aware of the employment it creates and the economic role it plays.

What we, Fife Council and a cross-party group of MSPs have called for is an independent expert study into the full range of environmental, social and health impacts of the plant’s operations.

ExxonMobil and Shell have been pretending since 1984 that the light, noise and air pollution caused by the plant is either non-existent or negligible – at worst, a minor inconvenience.

People who live near the plant know better and they are angry. It is no wonder that some of them have had enough and would be happy to see the back of the plant.

Second, I did not use “overblown” language when I asked Fife Council’s leaders, councillors Ross and Alexander, whether they knew about the Health & Safety Executive’s recent actions.

All I did was quote verbatim some of the wording in the 10 improvement notices and two immediate prohibition notices issued by HSE, so presumably ExxonMobil considers the carefully considered verdicts of this regulator “overblown”.

The real question here is why ExxonMobil kept completely quiet about these Health & Safety breaches, telling no one at Fife Council or in their neighbouring communities.

Trying to shoot a lowly council messenger will only make rebuilding trust with communities, politicians and regulators that much harder. Councillor Linda Holt. Dreel House, Pittenweem.