Building firm fined for oil spill

SHETLAND construction firm MK Leslie were fined £3,500 at Lerwick Sheriff Court yesterday (Thursday) after they admitted causing an oil spill by moving a corroded oil tank without a proper permit and protection measures in place.

The Lerwick company, based at Old North Road, Lerwick, had initially denied the offence, which took place on 16 October, 2008. Managing director Keith Leslie’s plea of not guilty was accepted by the court.

Emergency services and pollution experts were called to the former bus depot at Lower Scord, Scalloway, after 2,000 litres of lubricating oil entered a burn and reached the sea at nearby East Voe.

MK Leslie did not have the authorisation to move the rusty, single-skinned tank using a forklift, which ruptured allowing oil to enter the sea through a drain. As a result of the spill a kittiwake was covered in oil and later died.

The court heard there had been two similar incidents involving the firm, when a tanker being towed by a tractor fell over in 2002 and when a padlocked fuel tank was vandalised in 2006.

The company, which has a turnover of £3.5 million, had bought the empty site at Lower Scord four years ago and brought in contractors to remove any remaining waste oil left by the previous tenants.

Defence agent Tommy Allan said Mr Leslie did not know there was any oil in the tank when he ordered it to be removed, but conceded the company should have made initial checks that the tank was empty.

However Mr Leslie had done everything he could to check for any leak and then acted quickly when one was discovered, the defence said.

Sheriff Derek Livingston said he had dropped the fine from £5,000 because of the guilty plea, the company’s quick response to the spill and the fact they might not recover the full £100,000 cost of the clean up from their insurers.