Commenting on the Shell Gannet F Subsea Flowline oil leak in the North Sea, Scottish Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said:
“We take any oil leak extremely seriously, as the First Minister has made clear, and we are continuing to monitor this situation very closely. Marine Scotland officials are participating in the Operational Control Unit – alongside Shell, UK Government departments and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee – and are reporting back to Ministers on a regular basis.
“As is standard practice in incidents such as this, the UK Government, which has responsibility for the pipeline system, will be taking forward an investigation and I will be pressing for the Scottish Government to have a full and formal role, given our responsibilities for the marine environment.
“While there are inevitable difficulties verifying the extent and size of the leak, it’s vital that Shell and DECC make information available on an open, transparent and regular basis.
“The Scottish Government’s primary role is to advise on the impact any spill might have on the marine environment. Marine Scotland aircraft are currently involved in surveillance work over the affected area. Fishing vessels in the area have also been made aware of the incident.”
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.
