By Lars Niven

FORTH PORTS has been heavily criticised for not activating emergency measures to deal with a huge oil slick in the Firth of Forth off Fife.

Nationalist MSP Tricia Marwick accused the company of acting in a cavalier manner, while Fife Council said it was disappointed at the company’s response.

The slick was spotted on Monday and the local authority and environmental watchdog body SEPA were called in to try to find the source.

Several people, including members of the public and maintenance crews working on the Forth bridges, reported seeing the slick.

It was so big it could even be seen on the Forth Road Bridge’s CCTV system. Minor deposits of oil were also found washed up on the shoreline.

Council officials asked Forth Ports on Monday to activate the Clearwater Forth contingency plan to deal with oil spills. The measures are designed to enable the authorities to assess the extent and impact of any spill and to track down where the oil has come from.

It is up to Forth Ports to invoke that plan, which has been tried and tested.

It is normally co-ordinated by the company and involves flying over the affected area, as well as sending out boats to assess the scale of the pollution and take samples.

Company bosses at Forth Ports refused to invoke the plan, saying they did not feel such action was necessary, although boats were sent out to take samples.

A flight over the slick took place only after council officials approached the Maritime and Coastguard Agency themselves.

Photographs taken from the plane show three large patches of oil/sheen at the following three locations, which confirmed Fife Council’s concerns:

1. Between the bridges, Hound Point Marine Terminal and the Firth of Forth towards Inchcolm;

2. The north bank of the Forth close to the Rosyth Naval Base and mid-channel abeam;

3. The area abeam the Ineos Oil Refinery at Grangemouth.

The slick is thought to involve an estimated 200 cubic metres of oil.

The local authority revealed yesterday that it had activated a number of procedures to safeguard Fife’s shoreline, including daily shoreline checks by environmental health officers.

SEPA has also been taking samples.

A second flight was undertaken yesterday to keep an eye on the situation.

In the meantime, the council has also put up notices at beaches in the area to the public restricting certain activities.

Health officials have also imposed a temporary ban on the consumption of shellfish gathered on the shoreline from Burntisland to Kincardine.

Dr Bob McLellan, depute head of the council’s pollution response team, said, “We are disappointed Forth Ports have not activated the oil spill contingency plan, but we are working closely with them and other agencies to manage the situation effectively.

“I am confident that at this point in time there is no significant risk, on the shoreline, to the public or wildlife. But I would stress the council is on standby to respond to any change in the situation.”

Frank Wallace, the council’s senior emergency planning officer and author of its oil spill contingency plan, revealed last night that the Clearwater plan still had not been invoked.

“In my experience given the potential size of the spill, and in the worst case we could have up to 200 cubic metres of oil, I am very surprised,” he said. “I would have thought that Forth Ports would have understood the significance of that and invoked the Clearwater Forth scheme.

“It still has not been invoked. We have just come out of a meeting with them and in our view they still failed to clarify why it was not invoked.”

Mr Wallace said the plan was well practised, but felt the response to the current spill had been “piecemeal and ad hoc”.

Lin Bunten, of SEPA, confirmed they were first told of the oil spill on Monday.

“Our officers have been working tirelessly day and night to identify the source of this oil,” she said. “Activities have included detailed inspections of the north and south shoreline by officers on foot and… from a SEPA vessel, to assess the situation, identify the oil source and help to take samples.

“We are grateful for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and their counter-pollution aircraft. This has assisted us in identifying one possible source of oil and a further aerial survey is being carried out.

“As yet no dead birds or fish have been identified, but the spill affects several square kilometres, with oil washing up on the foreshore between Longannet and Valleyfield in Fife, and as far east as the Forth bridges and South Queensferry, including Inchcolm Island.”

SEPA later said the slick’s source had been found but no more statements would be made until today.

A Forth Ports spokesman said, “In the last 10 days there have been three sightings and on each occasion we have deployed resources to monitor and investigate the sightings.

“A common theme on each occasion was that the oil dispersed rapidly. It was our opinion that this was a land-based incident and this has proven to be the case.

“Throughout the period we have kept SEPA, local councils and the MCA informed so they could carry out their own investigations. Clearwater Forth was not activated because of the nature of the oil and its rapid dispersal. SEPA is conducting an investigation of the land-based incident.”

* Forth Ports is behind controversial proposals for ship-to-ship oil transfers in the firth and the way they have dealt with this week’s spill has not inspired confidence among opponents of the plan, which would see millions of tonnes of Russian crude transferred between ships just three miles off the Fife coast every year.

Last week, MSPs voted to give ministers powers to call in projects such as ship-to-ship that could affect environmentally sensitive areas.