Forth Ship-to-ship Oil Transfer Campaign
Click here to sign the Scottish Greens / Surfers Against Sewage petition
Greens are continuing to lead the campaign to stop a major oil threat in the Firth of Forth. Together with communities and organisations up and down the Forth, they are pressing both UK Transport Ministers and the Scottish Executive to reject plans by SPT Marine and Forth Ports to pump oil between tankers at sea off the Fife coast.
The bid is centred on the transfer of Russian heavy crude for onward transit to the Far East. Since the Donaldson report, commissioned after the Braer disaster in Orkney in 1993, there are only three sites in the UK considered suitable for ship-to-ship transfer. The Firth of Forth isn't one of them.
Scottish Greens' postcard campaigns targeted at Executive and Westminster ministers which were very successful in raising the profile of the issue, and in March 2006 Scottish Green MSPs achieved cross party support to reject the plan in a Green-sponsored debate in the Scottish Parliament.
In late 2006, Greens set up a hotline so that members of the public could record sightings of protected species such as dolphins. The data collected has been passed to SNH, and has helped rebut claims that the oil transfers will not threaten marine mammals.
The latest group to join the campaign is Surfers Against Sewage, an organisation renowned for high-profile grassroots action for clean, safe recreational waters, free from sewage effluents, toxic chemicals, marine litter and nuclear waste. Dozens of surfers descended on North Berwick and Portobello beaches on Saturday 24 March as part of Green-led public rallies to highlight public opposition to the plans and gather petition signatures (add your signature at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/SurfersAgainstSlicks/).
Scottish Ministers have the power to help block the proposal using European environmental laws, but only if FP opts to apply for a license on the basis that protected species and/or habitats may be threatened. FP may decide not to apply for a license, arguing that the plans do not pose a risk to protected wildlife, and simply give the go-ahead to an operation from which they will profit.
Greens have therefore now "upped the ante" and are calling for the law to be changed so that publicly-elected and accountable ministers, rather than a private company, have the final say on all proposals for ship-to-ship oil transfers. This could happen through a straightforward amendment to exisiting legislation and would offer the communities of the Firth of Forth, and others across Scotland, reassurance that their local environment and economies will not be sacrificed for private profit.
More detail on the campaign story so far...
Scottish Greens have been working on this campaign since the proposal frst came to light in 2005. In February 2006, the Department for Transport launched a 12-week "public" consultation exercise (via the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, MCA), on the ship-to-ship oil plans for the Forth. But it was a sham of a consultation because it wasn't about whether people agree or disagree with the activity - it was simply about whether the plans to deal with an oil spill were good enough or needed revision. Because STS is currently an unregulated but "legal activity" there is a presumption that it can proceed, and the MCA has no power to block consent.
Although thousands of people expressed their concern directly to the Department for Transport, there were only around 120 consultees on the list, half of whom are MPs and MSPs.
Confining discussion to the 'oil spill plan' failed to address the whole basis of the oil transfer project. Quick and dirty answers are not acceptable to communities around the Firth, nor should they be sanctioned by the Scottish Executive.
The Scottish Green Party urged people to make responses to the consultation, but to make it absolutely clear their fundamental objections to the activity itself, citing all the reasons given on this website.
The MCA eventually approved the revised spill plan, but decided not to take into account the vast majority of objections. Furthermore, the Agency used additional environmental and risk documents which had been submitted by Forth Ports plc in support of their plan, and to which the original participants of the "public" consultation had not been given access. These documents were only released after requests by the Scottish Greens under Freedom of Information legislation.
It is quite clear that the data on possible impact of the oil transfers on the local environment is fundamentally flawed, and would not meet the requirements of the European Habitats' Directive.
The whole oil transfer project has already been roundly rejected by all the relevant local authorities and environment agencies. Fife, East Lothian and Edinburgh City Councils have formed a consortium in opposition.
The public have made their opposition to the whole proposal equally loudly, with two petitions have been submitted to Parliament, one being led in the Petitions Committee by Green MSP Mark Ruskell on behalf of local residents. These petitions and the issues they raised were examined in detail by MSPs as part of a wider Marine Inquiry, the final report of which highlighted the Forth ship-to-ship case as an illustration of the need to update and simplify marine legislation and regulations. SPT Marine gave official evidence to Parliament, claiming to have an "excellent" safety. However, Greens revealed that the company was involved in a 35,000 gallon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 1995, arguing that such a record should be the final nail in the coffin of these risky proposals.
The Firth of Forth contains many sites and species protected under international and European law. However, under the current legal system covering Scottish coasts and seas, appropriate, accountable and democratic marine spatial planning is impossible. This is highlighted by the case of STS in the Firth, where a massive and unacceptable conflict of interest is being demonstrated by Forth Ports plc (harbour authority) as both promoter and regulator of the development. Shipping matters are currently devolved to Westminster, but specific laws to regulate ship-to-ship transfers are still in draft. A final decision on consenting the transfers has yet to be made by Forth Ports plc.
This matter is in danger of becoming a national scandal. It is being investigated by European Commission officials, and has become the subject of numerous "case" studies, including those by Scottish Environment LINK and WWF. Meanwhile, the Scottish Green Party has called for a Marine Act for Scotland, for the Executive to take ultimate decision-making powers away from FP, and will continue to work on defending the environment and local economy of the Firth of Forth.
Further information
Stop The Oil Threat leaflet (PDF)
Environment journalist Rob Edwards on oil pollution and ship-to-ship
Scottish Green Party news:
Whales and dolphin reports set to block risky Firth of Forth oil transfers
Forth oil company "misleads" Parliament on oil spill record
Surfers Against Sewage join Greens' anti-oil-transfers campaign