ExxonMobil Chemical was fined £176,000 at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court docket on 28 October after pleading responsible to breaching its environmental allow throughout six days of steady flaring at its Cowdenbeath web site in April 2019.
The Scottish Surroundings Safety Company (SEPA) stated the conviction adopted an intensive investigation involving specialist regulatory, technical, scientific and enforcement employees, which resulted in referral to the Crown Workplace and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) in July 2020.
The flaring induced vital disruption to the local people, with SEPA receiving greater than 900 complaints, the very best quantity ever for a single environmental occasion in Scotland. Residents described the noise as “like a jet engine” or a “blowtorch”, which left them unable to sleep. Individuals had been reluctant to go exterior as a result of noise and lots of referenced nervousness and the worry that one thing extra critical, like an explosion, may occur.
A lack of steam on twenty first April 2019 compelled ExxonMobil Chemical Restricted to close down operations at its Fife Ethylene Plant and flare across the clock for nearly every week.
SEPA stated its investigation discovered that:
- Smoke from the elevated flare stack exceeded authorized limits, with emissions darker than Ringlemann Shade 2 for 110 minutes – greater than seven instances the quarter-hour permitted.
- Important noise air pollution was induced, primarily based on monitoring in the neighborhood and statements from residents.
- ExxonMobil Chemical Restricted had processes and contingency plans that ought to have prevented the incident, however they weren’t adopted to a excessive sufficient customary.
- Poor upkeep scheduling, a lack of expertise of the location’s steam stability, and failure to replace threat analyses left the plant weak, ensuing within the shutdown and extended flaring.
Ross Haggart, SEPA’s Chief Working Officer for Regulation, Enterprise and Surroundings, stated:
“For practically every week, communities round ExxonMobil Chemical Restricted’s web site had been impacted by unacceptable and preventable flaring, inflicting noise and disruption on a scale that was merely insupportable.
“The size of complaints, the very best quantity ever obtained by SEPA for a single environmental occasion, illustrates how many individuals had been impacted by the noise, described as “like a jet-engine”, that disturbed sleep and induced worry and nervousness.
“Our investigation discovered that ExxonMobil had processes in place that might have prevented this incident, however they weren’t adopted to a excessive sufficient customary. At the moment’s consequence holds the corporate to account for these failures, and the intense impacts communities skilled.
“Whereas flaring is a vital security mechanism at services like this, it should be the exception fairly than routine. Important funding in new flaring infrastructure and operational enhancements has been pushed by SEPA’s programme of enforcement, and we’ll proceed to maintain a agency give attention to compliance going ahead.”
SEPA stated it had maintained a agency twin-track method to compliance, making certain the corporate is held to account whereas securing the technical enhancements wanted to handle the foundation causes of unacceptable flaring.
“By way of SEPA’s regulatory necessities, ExxonMobil Chemical Restricted has made main investments together with the set up of low-noise elevated flare ideas and multi-million-pound upgrades to enhance steam administration, scale back threat and minimise the frequency and period of flaring occasions.”
