Exposed: Scotland's f ilthiest companies Polluters in 'roll of

THE companies with the worst pollution records in Scotland have been outed by the government's green watchdog, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa).

Among the operators of 16 sites named for failing pollution assessments are Scottish and Southern Energy, Marine Harvest, BP, ScottishPower and Arjo Wiggins. Some are facing prosecution or other legal action.

The list has been called a "roll of shame" by environmentalists, who have pointed out that many of the companies have previously faced criticism for contaminating communities. .

Most of the companies accepted that mistakes had been made and were working with Sepa to make improvements. Others played down the problems or disputed Sepa's assessment.

Last week Sepa released Operator Performance Assessments on 145 industrial facilities in Scotland, grading the management of environmental risks. According to Sepa, the sites that failed will be subject to closer regulation. It stressed, however, that it did not want to "name and shame" companies.

"But we do think this information is in the public interest, " said Sepa's environmental protection co-ordinator, Audrey Terry. "It is important that we work with those companies whose performance is less than satisfactory and identify how the management and operation of sites can be improved."

Sepa's approach, however, was attacked by Friends of the Earth Scotland. "If Sepa won't 'name and shame', then we will, " said the environmental group's chief executive, Duncan McLaren.

"Until the authorities are prepared to crack down on serial polluters, we will work with communities to help them hold companies to account."

Operations at many of the 16 sites were "potentially hazardous", McLaren claimed.

"Simply publishing the information is no substitute for real action to eliminate the risks."

Two of the sites are run by Scottish and Southern Energy.

A leak of 16,000 litres of oil from its Peterhead power station last November has prompted Sepa to prepare a report for the procurator fiscal.

Sepa also claimed that there had been "discrepancies" in the reporting of emissions from the company's diesel power station at Lerwick in Shetland. The allegation is currently under investigation by Scottish and Southern Energy.

A spokeswoman for the company described the leak as "deeply regrettable" and said lessons had been learned.

A fish-processing factory run by the Dutch-owned salmon farming multinational Marine Harvest in Fort William was accused by Sepa of "unlicensed releases to the environment resulting in a report to the procurator fiscal". Marine Harvest says the failure was due to "an administrative oversight" and "one isolated incident" which was rectified. "We are committed to the highest environmental standards, " said the company's environmental manager, Ben Hadfield.

Last year Sepa issued BP's Innovene refinery at Grangemouth with an enforcement notice to remedy "breaches in permitted effluent quality". A spokesman for BP said all the conditions in the notice had been met by last November.

A sewage sludge treatment plant run by a ScottishPower subsidiary, SMW, in Daldowie, Glasgow, was strongly criticised by Sepa. It was accused of "failures in maintenance, repeated problems with odours and complaints resulting in the service of an enforcement notice".

ScottishPower insisted that the problem was not pollution but complaints about smells, which were reducing. "We are taking significant steps to prevent odours coming out, " said a company spokesman.

The Corpach paper mill in Fort William, run by Arjo Wiggins, was said to have breached permitted limits for solids in its effluent and failed to manage a discharge. The firm did not respond to our questions this weekend.

Another company which did not reply to our questions was Hollinee, which runs a fibreglass plant in East Kilbride.

According to Sepa it was guilty of failures in maintenance and procedures and breaches of emission limits, and had been served an enforcement notice.

This Thursday, Friends of the Earth Scotland is hosting a meeting in East Kilbride to help residents combat the pollution.

Brandt Environmental, a Portlethen company owned by US multinational Varco that cleans up drill cuttings from the oil industry, is also on Sepa's list. "The operator has persistently failed to take the necessary steps to control odour and dust emissions, " Sepa complained.

Varco's vice-president Peter Stuart said the company had only acquired the plant in 2003.

"Since the acquisition we have been working very closely with Sepa to resolve the concerns they have."

Sepa criticised a paper mill run by Ahlstrom Chirnside in Duns, Berwickshire, for a lack of maintenance causing releases to the environment.

The company disagreed.

The Sacone abattoir in Brechin was listed for failing to make quarterly environmental returns. Environmental manager Andrew Jenkins blamed "technical problems" which he said had now been solved.

Atmel Smart Cards in East Kilbride was accused by Sepa of a series of problems in 2004/05, but it accepted the company had made "substantial improvements" and was now meeting all requirements. The company rejected the criticisms for 2004.

Companies on the Sepa list that did not respond to inquiries on Friday were the BPB paper mill, Aberdeen; the Inveresk paper mill, Denny;

Total Waste Management Alliance, Peterhead; and Lampcare Recycling, Glasgow. The new owners of River Dee Ship Repair in Aberdeen, the Dale Group, could not be traced.

SCOTLAND'S BIG POLLUTERS

Company Activity Breaches

1 Scottish & Southern Energy, Peterhead Gas power station Major oil spillage in November 2004

2 Scottish & Southern Energy, Lerwick Diesel power station Discrepancies in stack emissions

3 Marine Harvest Scotland, Fort William Fish processing Unlicensed releases

4 Arjo Wiggins, Corpach, Fort William Papermaking Repeated limits breaches

5 BP Innovene, Grangemouth Petrochemicals Breaches in permitted effluent quality

6 Scottish Power, Daldowie, Glasgow Sewage sludge treatment Failures in maintenance, repeated problems with smells

7 Hollinee, East Kilbride Fibreglass manufacture Pollution limit breaches, maintenance and procedure failures

8 Ahlstrom Chirnside, Duns, Berwickshire Papermaking Environmental releases caused by plant failure

9 BPB Paperboard Ltd, Mugiemoss, Aberdeen Papermaking Repeated breaches of pollution limits

10 Inveresk Group, Denny, Stirlingshire Papermaking Emissions from effluent treatment

11 Brandt Environmental Ltd, Aberdeen Materials recovery Persistent failure to control odour and dust emissions

12 River Dee Ship Repair, Dry Dock, Aberdeen Chemical application Destroyed records which should have been kept

13 Sacone Environmental, Brechin Abattoir Failure to make quarterly returns

14 Total Waste Management Alliance, Peterhead Materials recovery Persistent failure to manage their processes

15 Atmel Smart Cards, East Kilbride Semiconductor manufacture Pollution management problems in 2004-05

16 Lampcare Recycling, Glasgow Chemical process Failures in pollution management

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