Seabird Centre Fights Oil Transfer in the Firth of Forth!
The Seabird Centre is strongly opposed to the proposed ship to ship oil transfers in the Firth of Forth. We have expressed our anger and deep concern at the decision by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to approve oil spill contingency plans.
Seabird Centre Chief Executive Tom Brock OBE, comments, “This approval is of major concern. Ship to ship oil transfers will put at major risk our local wildlife and our outstanding coastline. The wildlife rich waters of the Forth are of global importance and we all must do everything in our power to ensure that they are not put at risk for the sake of commercial gain for the oil companies.”
Ship to Ship transfer threatens to increase the risk of oil spillage in the Forth by as much as 20% in an area close to the important seabird islands of the Bass Rock and the Isle of May. The Firth of Forth as a whole already sees high levels of oil tanker traffic but this Russian export blend crude oil REBCO is a dense and thick oil which will be transferred in open sea, as opposed to within a protected terminal, make it of particular concern. The Firth of Forth and the Forth Islands are Special Protection Areas (SPAs) classified under the EU Birds Directive and Marine Environment High Risk Areas (MEHRA). They support around 90,000 wintering waterbirds and 400,000 breeding seabirds.
The proposal to date has taken no account of public opinion and this website petition will be presented to Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Executive with a press conference highlighting the issues. We are joined in this by RSPB, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Marine Conservation Society, Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS), Fife Council, East Lothian council and Kommunenes Internasjonale Miljorganisasjon Local Authorities International Environmental Organisation (KIMO) in believing that this proposal can still be rejected if there is enough public opposition. We therefore need your help to petition against it. Every individual name will help and we urge you to add your name to our website petition.
PLEASE SIGN OUR PETITION TODAY and PASS IT ON TO ALL YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS!
