COWDENBEATH MSP Annabelle Ewing is keeping up pressure on SEPA over the recent flaring at the Fife Ethylene Plant.

Speaking this afternoon, Ms Ewing said: “I had a telephone conversation this morning with the Chief Executive of SEPA, Terry A’Hearn during which I raised a number of concerns regarding this unplanned flaring event including the potential impact on air quality, and the noise and vibration caused.

“I stressed the importance of SEPA sharing whatever information they have that can provide reassurance to my constituents.

“Following on from the telephone call, I will be putting specific concerns to Mr A’Hearn in writing and I will also be writing to Health Protection Scotland and to Fife Council to seek clarification about what their roles in this process are, or could be.”

Meanwhile this afternoon Stuart Neill, external affairs manager for the ExxonMobil Fife Ethylene Plant, said: “We absolutely understand the disruption that the current unplanned flaring is having on communities in the area.

“Our team are working round the clock to bring the plant back to normal operations, a process which will take a few days to safely complete. During this time we will, regrettably, need to continue to flare.

“The unplanned flaring was caused by a fault in a section of cable that resulted in the plant being moved to fail-safe mode as per established operational procedure.

“Flaring is an established industry practice, essentially producing water and CO2 from the combustion of Ethylene and steam.

“We are doing everything possible to minimise both the flaring and the timescales to resolve this unplanned event.”