Oil giant Shell could now face criminal charges over the Gannet Alpha oil spill, we can reveal.
More than 200 tonnes of light crude spewed into the North Sea in August 2011 from a leak in a pipeline serving the Gannet Alpha, 112 miles east of Aberdeen.
Shell was accused of playing down the incident after it estimated 120 barrels had been spilled.
However, Shell later revised their figure to 1,300 barrels, making it the worst North Sea spill in more than a decade.
The incident has been under investigation ever since, led by the UK Government’s Department for Energy and Climate Change.
Last night, it emerged that the department has completed its probe, and filed its report with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
Prosecutors are now considering the report and will decide whether the firm should face criminal proceedings.
“Following an investigation into the circumstances of an incident in August 2011 involving a release of oil at the Gannet F Field in the North Sea, the Department of Energy and Climate Change has submitted a report to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service,” a spokesman said last night.
“That report is now under the consideration of the Health and Safety Division”.
A Shell spokeswoman said: “We are aware that the Department of Energy and Climate Change has now reported the circumstances of the August 2011 Gannet F spill to the procurator fiscal.
“Shell does not intend to comment further at this stage.”
Soon after the leak was plugged, Shell removed up to 660 tonnes of oil from the damaged pipeline.
While the spill was the largest in the region since the 1990s, it did not cause damage to the environment.
An investigation said no dangerous levels of toxins were found in water, fish or sediment samples.
A Marine Scotland Science team, based in Aberdeen, looked for pollutants.
Their report said there was “no evidence of Gannet crude oil contamination”.
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