Committee
Environment and Rural Development Committee, 07 Feb 2007
07 Feb 2007 · S2 · Environment and Rural Development Committee
Item of business
Petitions
Ship-to-ship Oil Transfers<br />(PE956 and PE982)
Having read the petitions, I think that we have discharged what we were petitioned to do. The other issue is what we do with what we have learned from our consideration of the petitions. How do we take forward the evidence in drawing out what we might want to put forward as recommendations in our marine inquiry?PE956 calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive"to ensure the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994, as amended, are applied in relation to ship to ship oil transfers in Scotland."I think that we have done that, or that we can write to the Executive and do that. PE982 calls on the Scottish Parliament"to consider and debate the implications".At a technical level, I think that we have discharged the petitions and that we can now take forward what we have learned from our consideration of them. Is that a fair comment?
In the same item of business
The Convener (Maureen Macmillan):
Lab
Good morning. I welcome committee members, witnesses and members of the public and press to this meeting of the Environment and Rural Development Committee. ...
Les Douglas:
My wife apologises for not being able to attend—ill health has prevented her from coming. I will do my best to represent her commitment to and passion for th...
B Linden Jarvis:
I oppose the plans of Forth Ports and Melbourne Marine Services, primarily on environmental grounds. The ship-to-ship transfer of huge quantities of heavy gr...
The Convener:
Lab
Thank you for that powerful address.
Mr Ted Brocklebank (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con):
Con
I, too, congratulate the witnesses on their powerful, eloquent presentations. The committee wants to examine all the implications of the proposal. I will pla...
B Linden Jarvis:
I believe that 95, 96, 97 or even 98 per cent of the time the operation is safe, but if something went wrong there could be a large spillage. There are seven...
Mr Brocklebank:
Con
Let us pursue the issue further. You will recall that 10 or 15 years ago an oil tanker foundered off the coast of Shetland, spilling thousands of tonnes of c...
B Linden Jarvis:
Do you believe that that would apply in the Forth estuary if thousands of tonnes of oil were spilled and it sank and spread to the beaches? The oil would be ...
Mr Brocklebank:
Con
Presumably there would be booms that would collar any spill, although at this stage I am not accepting that there might be one. If there were, surely the met...
B Linden Jarvis:
But the transfer at Sullom Voe is not ship to ship; it is at the quayside. It is ship to ship at Scapa Flow but in an encircled harbour.
Mr Brocklebank:
Con
With respect, it is ship to ship in many circumstances in Sullom Voe as well. Furthermore, the evidence is that, if anything, ship-to-ship transfer is safer ...
B Linden Jarvis:
I do not believe that to be the case. I must also dispute the point about ship-to-ship transfer at Sullom Voe—I understand that it is just at the quayside.
Mr Brocklebank:
Con
We had evidence recently from someone at Sullom Voe who said that they would welcome the business if the company chose to take it there. He believed that Sul...
The Convener:
Lab
We will move to Mark Ruskell.
Les Douglas:
May I come in on that question, convener?
The Convener:
Lab
Yes, of course. I beg your pardon—I should have asked you.
Les Douglas:
First, the accident that Mr Brocklebank mentioned involved a much lighter crude oil, so it was easier to clean up and dispose of than the Russian oil would b...
Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green):
Green
I, too, welcome you to the committee and thank you, as members of the public, for engaging with the Parliament on this issue.Mr Douglas, I want to ask you ab...
Les Douglas:
I strongly suggest that there should be a delay—and I know that my wife would probably do that even more strongly. It is time to stop, think and check. We ne...
Mr Ruskell:
Green
You are talking about a decision on the particular operation?
Les Douglas:
Yes.
Mr Ruskell:
Green
And would you see it as positive if regulations were introduced to change the law and give the Executive more powers to take a decision over such transfers?
Les Douglas:
Certainly. As it appears to my wife Mary and a lot of other people, the situation could continue and nobody has the power to stop it. The Secretary of State ...
B Linden Jarvis:
I question whether ship-to-ship transfers are a lawful business. Surely they contravene the European habitats regulations, in which case they are an illegal ...
Mr Ruskell:
Green
Is the issue about how the directive has been interpreted and the fact that the regulations need to be updated?
B Linden Jarvis:
I am not a lawyer and I do not understand how European legislation is transposed into domestic legislation, but if Forth Ports proceeds, the European Parliam...
Mr Andrew Arbuckle (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD):
LD
I add my congratulations to both petitioners on their powers of persuasion in their presentations.Mr Jarvis is a shareholder of the company that is involved ...
B Linden Jarvis:
Some of the institutional investors to whom I have spoken are concerned, but I am not at liberty to give their names. The answer to the first part of your qu...
Mr Arbuckle:
LD
You asked for data about the deal that is on the table.
B Linden Jarvis:
That is right.