Rob Edwards

Revealed: the oil companies which breached safety rules

from Sunday Herald, 09 March 2008

The oil companies guilty of a series of safety breaches on North Sea rigs have been named and shamed by the government’s health and safety watchdog - but only after a freedom of information request by the Sunday Herald.

In the last three years Shell, Total, BP, Chevron, Maersk and other companies have all faced legal action from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), forcing them to fix flaws in their crucial safety and maintenance systems.

Numerous rules designed to reduce the risk of accidents, fires and explosions to prevent workers from being injured or killed have been broken. Fire doors, valves, and other critical safety equipment have been found to be faulty, and maintenance regimes inadequate.

Scotland's seas under threat from oil development

from Sunday Herald, 02 March 2008

There will be blood, and oil will be to blame. Scotland’s seas, and the teeming wildlife they harbour, are facing one of the biggest dangers they have ever encountered.

A massive new search for oil and gas launched by the UK government will put whales, dolphins and other marine life at risk. And it will jeopardise global attempts to cut the pollution that is causing climate chaos.

Plans to open up virtually all of the seas around the Scottish coast for multinational companies to explore for oil and gas have been greeted with widespread horror by experts and environmentalists.

Forth oil plans cancelled

01 February 2008

Plans to pump millions of tonnes of Russian crude oil between tankers in the Firth of Forth have been abandoned. The harbour company Forth Ports announced this morning that it was not going ahead with the scheme, which has provoked widespread opposition.

"Given the uncertainty surrounding the scope of the proposed project, we have decided that this application is not in the best interests of the company and its shareholders," said Forth Ports chief executive, Charles Hammond.

New move to stop ship-to-ship oil plans

from Sunday Herald, 02 December 2007

Controversial plans to pump millions of tonnes of oil between ships around the UK coast could be prevented by a new law being proposed by a Scottish MP.

This week Mark Lazarowicz, Labour MP for Edinburgh North and Leith, will launch a private member's bill aimed at plugging the loophole which has enabled ship-to-ship oil transfers to escape independent regulation.

Ministers make legal move to stop Forth oil plans

from Sunday Herald, 24 June 2007

Long-disputed plans to pump millions of tonnes of Russian crude oil between tankers in the Firth of Forth now appear doomed.

The Sunday Herald has discovered that a legal change to be put before the Scottish Parliament this week will give ministers new powers to veto developments which threaten protected wildlife areas.

Forth Ports accused of being 'heavy-handed'

from Sunday Herald, 17 June 2007

The harbour company, Forth Ports, has been accused of trying to hamper an environmental assessment of controversial plans for pumping millions of tonnes of oil a year between tankers in the Firth of Forth.

The company had been "very heavy handed", according to the government's conservation agency, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). Strict secrecy rules it wanted to impose on SNH officials could have prevented them from advising ministers.

Shareholders ‘concerned’ over oil transfer plan

from Sunday Herald, 29 April 2007

The harbour authority, Forth Ports, has come under pressure from one of its major shareholders over its handling of controversial plans to transfer oil between tankers off the Fife coast.

A major investment company owned by the life and pensions giant, Friends Provident, has told the Sunday Herald that its multi-million pound shareholding in Forth Ports is "under review".

Multinational in Forth oil transfer bid fined for spill

from Sunday Herald, 11 March 2007

The multinational company behind controversial oil plans for the Firth of Forth has been linked to a previously undisclosed pollution incident off the French coast, prompting renewed fears for the safety of the Scottish environment.

The SNP is calling on Skaugen PetroTrans (SPT) to "come clean" about the safety record of its parent companies after it emerged that one of them has been involved in a prolonged dispute with the French authorities over an incident in 2001.

Emergency response to Forth oil spill 'confused'

from Sunday Herald, 11 February 2007

The emergency response to a major oil spill in the Firth of Forth has been exposed as flawed and confused by an official report leaked to the Sunday Herald.

Communication breakdowns and clean-up problems revealed by the latest emergency exercise have re-ignited fears over controversial plans for pumping millions of tonnes of Russian crude oil between tankers in the estuary.

Firth of Forth oil transfer plan is ‘seriously flawed’

from Sunday Herald, 29 October 2006

A risk assessment of the plan to transfer millions of tonnes of Russian oil between ships in the Firth of Forth is so badly flawed that it would breach European law, government advisers have warned.

A confidential environmental report drawn up for the company behind the plan has been savaged by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) as inaccurate and inadequate because it fails to properly assess the damage that wildlife could suffer from oil spills.

Forth Ports under attack over oil conflict

from Sunday Herald, 01 October 2006

One of Scotland's leading companies, Forth Ports, has come under fierce attack for acting as both the promoter and regulator of a controversial plan to transfer millions of tonnes of Russian oil between ships in the Firth of Forth.

Oil spill insurance 'farcical'

11 September 2006

Insurance cover for accidents while pumping millions of tonnes of Russian crude oil between tankers in the Firth of Forth has been attacked as "farcical".

Legal threat to stop oil transfer plan

from Sunday Herald, 25 June 2006

Local authorities are threatening to take the government to court if it gives the go-ahead to plans to pump millions of tonnes of Russian crude oil between ships in the Firth of Forth.

Report on Forth oil spill risk 'flawed'

from Sunday Herald, 04 June 2006

The risk of a major oil spill in the Firth of Forth while millions of tonnes of Russian crude is pumped between ships is three times higher than predicted, one of the UK's leading risk experts has claimed.

Oil consultation: the joke's on us

comment, 31 May 2006

There are real consultations, sham consultations, and then there's the UK government's consultation over the plan for millions of tonnes of Russian crude oil to be pumped between ships in the Firth of Forth. It's worse than a sham: it's a joke.

Shareholder rails against Forth oil transfer plan

from Sunday Herald, 30 April 2006

THE rising cacophony of protest against plans to pump millions of tonnes of Russian crude oil between ships in the Firth of Forth will this week find a powerful new voice. Opposition will surface for the first time among shareholders of Forth Ports, the £850 million harbour company promoting the plans.

Forth oil plans 'misleading'

filed for Sunday Herald, 15 January 2006

Controversial plans to pump millions of tonnes of Russian crude oil between ships in the Firth of Forth have been savaged by the government's environmental advisers as "erroneous and misleading".

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has accused the oil industry of downplaying the potential risk of a spillage. The impact of even a small leak at the wrong time could be "devastating" for wildlife, it warned.

Sepa ‘frozen out’ of Forth oil transfers

from Sunday Herald, 20 November 2005

A move by the environment watchdog to reduce the risks of oil spills from a controversial scheme in the Firth of Forth has been blocked by the Scottish Executive.

‘Damning’ EU ruling halts Forth oil plan

from Sunday Herald, 30 October 2005

CONTROVERSIAL plans to pump millions of tonnes of Russian crude oil between ships in the Firth of Forth could be scuppered by a tough new environmental ruling from the European Court of Justice.

Ministers ‘secretly back’ controversial Fife oil plan

from Sunday Herald, 04 September 2005

THE Scottish Executive has given covert backing to a highly controversial scheme to transfer millions of tonnes of Russian crude oil within a few miles of the Scottish coast every year, claims the company behind the scheme.