Scottish Sea Farms fined £70k for breaches at Gremista site
SCOTTISH Sea Farms has been fined £70,000 after breaching fluorinated greenhouse gas regulations at its salmon processing facility in Gremista, Lerwick.
Two civil penalties of £35,000 each were issued by Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) after it discovered refrigeration equipment at the site was working without required leakage detection systems.
SEPA said that fluorinated gases are potent greenhouse gases, with some having a global warming potential thousands of times greater than carbon dioxide.
Leakage detection systems are designed to identify losses quickly and prevent avoidable emissions reaching the atmosphere.
During a routine compliance inspection SEPA officers found two ice plants at the Lerwick site each contained fluorinated gases above the regulatory threshold, but did not have a working leakage detection system installed.
SEPA determined that Scottish Sea Farms had failed to meet its obligations and was therefore liable to pay two civil penalties totalling £70,000.
Fluorinated gas specialist Rodney Allan, from SEPA’s carbon reduction team, said leakage detection systems were there to prevent unnecessary emissions.
“Businesses that use large refrigeration systems must make sure these safety measures are in place and working properly,” he said.
“If operators do not meet their legal duties, SEPA will take enforcement action to protect Scotland’s environment.”
Scottish Sea Farms said the penalties related to “historic non-compliance with fluorinated greenhouse gas regulations”, and that there were no leaks and no actual environmental harm identified.
“We fully accepted SEPA’s findings, took immediate corrective action to bring the site back into compliance, and have strengthened internal controls and compliance procedures across our operations,” Scottish Sea Farms said.
“The issue arose from an oversight following the acquisition of the site, including an incorrect assumption that the necessary systems were already in place and reliance on contracted specialists.
“We are also progressing wider work to move away from fluorinated-gas-based systems altogether.”
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