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Oil spill costs energy company £20,000
Lochmaddy Sheriffs court has fined Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution £20,000 for an oil spill at its Loch Carnan Power Station on South Uist in the Outer Hebrides last November.
The energy company, part of Scottish and Southern Energy, pleaded guilty to spilling 45,000 litres of red diesel. The fuel leaked from a corrosion hole in an oil tank, bypassed the secondary containment system and entered both groundwater and Loch Carnan. The case was brought by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa).
Hazel MacLeod, SEPA's investigating officer, said: "Diesel and fuel oil can have a severe polluting effect on a watercourse. The oil forms a film over the water and therefore prevents oxygen exchange from occurring resulting in low levels of oxygen which can lead to the death of fish and invertebrates. The death of invertebrates also has an impact on fish life.
"The discharge of oil in this instance was not and would not be licensed by SEPA. It had an impact on the use of the water for recreation, not only through the direct pollution and damage to amenity caused by the oil itself, but also through the associated construction of a breakwater to assist in the oil clean up exercise.
"The hole in the storage tank was small, and would not have been easily identified. However, the bund surrounding the oil tanks was not fit for purpose as it had a permeable base. Had a secondary containment system that was fit for purpose been provided at the site, oil leaking from the tank would have been contained within the bund, and would not have been able to escape the site and enter the water environment. Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution Plc is aware of the requirements of the oil storage regulations but despite this, during a recent upgrade of the bunding at this site, they neglected to provide bunding to the area directly underneath the oil storage tanks."
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