I VERY much hope that the Scottish Government Environment Secretary, Roseanna Cunningham, will rethink her reluctance to carry out the increasingly desperately needed investigation into Mossmorran operations.

Further events have taken place in the short period of 1 month which strengthen the need for the investigation to be carried out sooner, rather than later.

• 02 September. ExxonMobil announce that the plant will be closed until some point in “Quarter 4”.

• 17 September. ExxonMobil announces that £140m is to be spent on the plant.

• It is revealed that in July 2019 the HSE issued an Improvement Notice to ExxonMobil concerning the risk of explosion. The HSE stated that ExxonMobil had failed to take all necessary measures to reduce the risk of firebox explosion from furnaces. Inspectors said risk was from an uncontrolled accumulation of unburnt fuel in fireboxes. The HSE notice, which affects seven furnaces, states that measures currently in place are not sufficient to reduce the risk to as low as reasonably practical.

• 19 September. Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse makes a statement to the Scottish Parliament “my hope is that SEPA will not be required to use its enforcement powers and that ExxonMobil will move swiftly to implement the promised improvements”.

So, in the space of one month, we see further indication of malpractice and the broken-down state of the plant. It is patently obvious that this is never ending, and that agencies such SEPA and HSE will always be heavily involved with this plant.

The fact that the plant will now be potentially closed for up to 3.5 months sends out a loud message of how much work is needed to bring it up to an acceptable standard. Every single £1 coin tells its own story of why it is being spent. There are therefore 140 million reasons why the called-for independent investigation should commence immediately.

When I wrote to Ms Cunningham about the much-need investigation, she stated in her reply to me that she did not want to influence the awaited report from SEPA in November. However, last week’s comments from her colleague Paul Wheelhouse, Energy Minister, can be construed as hoping that SEPA does not use its enforcement powers. This comment certainly blows her ‘let’s wait for SEPA’ stance on the matter out of the water. His willingness to comment on hoped-for SEPA actions certainly contradicts her policy of no comment meantime.

I am also very disappointed that Ms Cunningham’s response appears to have rejected a suggestion that it would be useful for her to meet with those local communities affected by Mossmorran. I for one would be happy to meet with the Minister and describe the nuisance being inflicted on me by Mossmorran operations.

JOE PURVES,

McKenzie crescent,

Lochgelly.