Clean-up underway after ballast water spillage

A MAJOR clean-up operation is underway at South Queensferry following the spillage of ballast water from a pipe linked to an oil handling facility.

Emergency services responded to reports of “a yellow and green fluorescent liquid” flowing downhill into the waters of the Forth and the foreshore at Long Craig Riggs at 1.30pm.

It is thought the material, which smells strongly of sulphur, spilled from a pipe at Long Craig pier that carry ballast water from BP’s Hound Point Terminal to Dalmeny Tank Farm.

The Hound Point terminal, the largest oil exporting facility in Scotland, allows empty oil tankers to take on ballast water to ensure stability during sea voyages.

There were no reports of any injuries and the environmental impact is not yet known.

Around 50 firefighters and major incident vehicles attended the scene setting up a temporary base in the Scotmid supermarket carpark at The Loan while police officers closed off roads at Standing Stones Road, Dalmeny, and the west of High Street in South Queensferry. A 100-metre exclusion zone has been erected.