MSPs to question oil spillage company

Published on Thursday 1 March 2007 00:31

MSPs yesterday agreed to contact the firm hoping to carry out oil transfers in the Firth of Forth after it was accused of trying to hoodwink Holyrood.

SPT Marine Services wants to pump about 7.8 million tonnes of Russian crude oil a year between tankers anchored four miles off the coast.

But the proposals have sparked an angry reaction from people living along the coast, who fear any spillage could seriously damage the environment.

Last week the Greens claimed the firm had failed to tell the Scottish Parliament about an incident in 1995, in which 35,000 gallons of oil were spilled in the Gulf of Mexico.

Green MSP Mark Ruskell wrote to members of Holyrood's environment committee about the accident, in which a tanker owned by SPT was in a collision with another vessel.

Mr Ruskell said it left oil on beaches and led to a 1.6 million lawsuit. He called on the committee to investigate.

The committee has agreed to write to SPT Marine Services and to Forth Ports, in whose harbour-authority area the transfers would take place.