Mossmorran campaigners plan protest at Fife Council HQ

The Mossmorran Action Group (MAG) will demonstrate outside Fife House in Glenrothes on Thursday morning in response to the latest incident at Fife Ethelyne Plant which lasted six days.

The group’s demo will take place before the full meeting of Fife Council.

It plans to don gas masks in an attempt to bring action on the unscheduled flaring that resulted in over 750 complaints to SEPA’s pollution hotline.

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At the meeting,  Councillor Richard Watt will ask for a full independent review of the plant to take place.

Group chairman, James Glen said: “We have been calling for a full independent investigation since the bout of extreme emergency flaring two years ago.

“The work of Lesley Laird’s multi-stakeholder group has been useful and we have seen SEPA up its game a bit, but little real progress has been made in either establishing the impacts of the plant or finding ways to mitigate them. There has been no progress at all in providing residents with any kind of redress over what they are forced to endure.

“The recent six-day long period of emissions from the plant – longer, nastier and more extended in its pollution, noise and light impacts – has left thousands of people asking questions and demanding answers.

“We want Fife Council to speak with one voice in demanding that the Scottish Government act now. MAG is a cross-party group, our board and our membership reflect all shades of political opinion and none.”

Terry A’Hearn, chief executive of SEPA, said: “Whilst the Mossmorran complex is a major industrial facility where this type of flaring is a legitimate safety mechanism, this is happening too often and the level and extent of flaring is wholly unacceptable.

“Understanding the impact of flaring provided by local communities, families and individuals is vitally important and, as such, we would encourage people to continue to report impacts directly to us online or via our 24 hour pollution hotline.”