The Scottish Environment Protection Agency, in addition to other public agencies, is jointly responsible for the regulation of ExxonMobil Chemical Limited and Shell UK Limited at Mossmorran.
This newsletter is part of SEPA’s commitment to update local communities on our regulation of the Mossmorran facility, our ongoing formal investigation and review of potential enforcement activity, following prolonged flaring in June and the subsequent extended shutdown late last month.
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Watch this newsletter in video format here.
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What’s happening now?
On Friday 27 October, SEPA was notified by ExxonMobil Chemical Limited that the site was in the process of activating a controlled shutdown. While flaring is an inbuilt safety mechanism of many industrial facilities, and is necessary to carry out as part of allowing the plant to re-start safely, SEPA officers moved immediately to establish contact with the facility, attend local communities and issue daily information updates to local stakeholders during the incident.
Whilst initially expected to conclude on 29 October, flaring continued until the evening of 30 October.
Under controls in the permit issued by SEPA, an incident report will be submitted from ExxonMobil Chemical Limited. The response, which will be available publicly, will be reviewed by SEPA as part of its ongoing compliance work with the company .
SEPA’s assessment and investigations into ExxonMobil Chemical Ltd are now at an advanced stage. The investigation has collected extensive data from ExxonMobil Chemical Limited and Shell UK, in addition to impact statements from the community and stakeholders affected, to establish the experience of people living locally.
What happens next?
With SEPA’s review and investigation into ExxonMobil Chemical Ltd now in advanced stages, SEPA will now move to consider its enforcement action against the company, and will do so in accordance with our Enforcement Policy, with options ranging from enforcement notices requiring defined actions, restrictions to the site’s permit to operate, or the submission of a report to the Procurator Fiscal for their consideration of prosecution.
Whilst currently restricted in what we are able to communicate at this time, to avoid any prejudice to any potential enforcement action, SEPA will openly notify community stakeholders in relation to our enforcement decisions as soon as this is possible.
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Further information
Further information is available on SEPA’s dedicated Mossmorran hub at www.sepa.org.uk/mossmorran, with updates issued there and across social media.
The hub contains information on common questions including:
- The role of SEPA, the Health and Safety Executive, Health Protection Scotland and Fife Council.
- Information related to monitoring activity.
- Why the flaring occurs.
- What the constituents of the flare are.
- What restrictions are applied.
- Why smoke can be produced.
- Health impacts and other local factors.
For further questions, please email community@sepa.org.uk - this account is monitored weekdays during office hours only.
Whilst that’s it for now, we’re working hard to provide a further update as quickly as possible
Thank you, and remember SEPA’s 24 Hour Pollution Hotline is available on 0800 807 060 and is available to report environmental incidents, with information on how and what to report at www.sepa.org.uk/contact/ |
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