SEPA have launched a formal investigation into the "unplanned flaring" at Mossmorran which is continuing for a fifth day.
More than 600 people have complained since the bright burning flame and thick black smoke first appeared at the Fife ethylene plant on Easter Sunday. The environment protection agency says this is one of the highest number of complaints for any single event.
Since then a number of people, including councillors for the area, have expressed their concern – with some of those living nearby saying that the Mossmorran flaring to continue for days as those living nearby complain of no sleep .
Others expressed fears over the environmental impact, and now SEPA have announced that they'll be launching a formal regulatory investigation.
This follows final warning letters issued to plant operator ExxonMobil last year after flaring was found to be "preventable and unacceptable". They also tightened permit conditions at the plant.
What is Mossmorran and is it dangerous? 'Unplanned flaring' continues at chemical plant
Terry A'Hearn, SEPA CEO, said: "Every day, SEPA works to protect and enhance Scotland’s environment and compliance with Scotland’s environmental rules is simply non-negotiable. In addition to working hard to ensure ExxonMobil brings a halt to the flaring as quickly as possible, we have also launched this investigation into the incident.
“The unprecedented number of complaints we have received is a clear message and it’s one that we have heard powerfully and clearly. I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to help us understand the impacts of this flaring, and I encourage people to continue to report to us.
“The Mossmorran complex is a major industrial facility, where this type of flaring is a legitimate safety mechanism, but it’s been happening too often, and the current level and extent of the flaring from ExxonMobil Chemical Limited is unacceptable.”
Mossmorran flaring to continue for days as those living nearby complain of no sleep
SEPA have been at the site examining air pollution and noise pollution levels.
This week ExxonMobil released a statement saying that they understand the disruption caused by flaring and were doing all they could to remedy the issue.
Stuart Neill, external affairs manager for the plant, said: "The unplanned flaring was caused by a fault in a section of cable that resulted in the plant being moved to fail-safe mode as per established operational procedure.
“Flaring is an established industry practice, essentially producing water and CO2 from the combustion of Ethylene and steam.
“We are doing everything possible to minimise both the flaring and the timescales to resolve this unplanned event.”
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