The Scottish Government is taking ongoing action to establish the extent of the environmental impact of the oil leak at the Shell Gannet F Subsea installation.

Scottish Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said:

“The Scottish Government’s primary operational role is to assess and advise on the impact this spill may have on the marine environment, and Marine Scotland has carried out aerial surveillance of the affected area. Further survey flights planned for today will include an ornithologist, appointed by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, as an observer.

“In the coming days Marine Scotland’s Fishery Research Vessel Scotia will take fish, seawater and sediment samples to monitor any environmental impact the leak may have caused. There are currently no Scottish fishing vessels operating close to the vicinity of the oil leak, therefore no impact is expected in terms of contaminated fish entering the food chain, but we remain vigilant.

“Our understanding is that output from the North Sea oil leak has been greatly reduced, and that Shell is continuing work to stop the flow completely. It is important that Shell are as open and transparent as possible, and provide regular updates on the developing situation.

“While it is for the UK Government, which has responsibility for the pipeline system, to take forward an investigation, it is critical that the Scottish Government has a full and formal role in this investigation.”

Background

Images taken by a Marine Scotland surveillance aircraft on August 15 can be accessed at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marinescotland/sets/72157627446394478/

Video footage taken on August 15 is online at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/MarineLaboratory#p/a/u/0/C3Gy9t-a_2U

Marine Scotland officials are participating in the Operations Control Unit and are ensuring that Scottish Ministers are kept informed of developments. The Operations Control includes representatives from Shell, UK Government department, Marine Scotland and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.

Under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 roles and responsibilities for responding to marine pollution are set out in the National Contingency Plan. The UK Department for Transport and their agency the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) are in the lead for Government, with Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) where an offshore installation is involved.

The National Contingency Plan is currently being reviewed by the MCA in order to take account of lessons learned from the Gulf of Mexico and the recent national oil spill exercise which the First Minister instigated (Exercise Sula took place on 18-19 May this year in Scottish waters).

Exercise Sula was ‘played’ at a number of locations in Aberdeen and Shetland, covering scenarios around the immediate aftermath of a deep-water oil spill and then oil potentially coming ashore one week later. This included a practical demonstration of response equipment and procedures, to which the media was invited. Marine Scotland, Resilience and communications officials took part in the Exercise - chairing the Environment Group and participating in a number of the response cells. A report of the Exercise is being prepared by DECC and the Maritime Coastguard Agency and will published shortly.

Contact:  Tom Whittles: 0131 244 2614 / 07917 588 519