Ecology and chemistry teams from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) have been called out following an oil spill at Petroineos’ Finnart Ocean Terminal.
At the time SEPA said that the oil was surfacing from an underground pipeline near Argyll and Bute and the agency is currently coordinating a multi-agency response.
Containment and clean-up operations are underway and the pipeline has been depressurised.
The west coast pipeline from Finnart Ocean Terminal is capable of receiving large tankers of crude oil and was first imported in 1951.
The oil from the ocean terminal is transported to the Grangemouth refinery.
In an update, Shona McConnell, SEPA senior manager for environmental performance, said: “No oil was observed in the Fruin Water below the upstream containment infrastructure near Strone House.”
She explained that environmental agency ecology and chemistry teams have been in attendance at the site “to evaluate how containment is performing following rain overnight and carry out environmental sampling if required.”
Earlier in the week a spokesperson for SEPA told Energy Voice that Argyll and Bute Council is “coordinating a multi-agency response” in response to the spill.
This is still the case as Ms McConnell described how SEPA will ” continue to work closely” with partners, including the local authorities.
SEPA previously said NHS Highland’s Public Health Team was working closely with the council’s Environmental Health Team to assess any implications for a small number of private water drinking supplies.
Other agencies involved in the response include Police Scotland, Scottish Water and Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority.
The environmental protection agency has requested that Petroineos share its remediation and monitoring plans at the “earliest opportunity” for SEPA to “carefully” review.
Ms McConnell concludes: “The operator will be required to submit an incident report in due course and officers will follow up any regulatory actions as appropriate.”
Earlier in the week SEPA said Petroineos has deployed specialists in spill containment and recovery to the area, where they remained on site as of Wednesday evening.
