'Significant progress' being made at Mossmorran

The comments were made by Dunfermline Central councillor Jean Hall Muir (SNP) as members of the Environment, Transportation & Climate Change Scrutiny Committee were given an update.

"Significant progress” has been made in reducing complaints and concerns near Shell and ExxonMobil plants at Mossmorran and Braefoot Bay in the last few years. 

The latest figures from 2023 show that operators only received 45 complaints last year compared to more than 1,671 in 2020 and 1,421 in 2019 when a series of major unplanned flaring events at the Fife Ethylene Plant triggered a huge community backlash.

“The conclusions are that there have been significant improvements at the Mossmorran complex since flaring events in 2019 and 2020,” Kenny Bisset, Fife’s lead officer for environmental strategy, said. 

Cllr Hall Muir agreed that there is a “measurable, easily observable difference to the quality”.  “I’m really happy to see the reduction in complaints from what was the high in 2020 and it no longer looks like you’re living next door to Mordor on a cloudy day,” she said. 

Councillor Darren Watt (Conservative for Cowdenbeath) also praised the improvements.  As someone who lives in the Mossmorran and Braefoot vicinity, Cllr Watt said that he received notice that there was going to be flaring for a short period from August 30. 

However, he said there was “absolutely no cause for concern” and no complaints from other residents. 

“The fact that it’s come such a long way in such a short period of time is a real testament to the efforts from Exxon and Shell for work done to address community concerns. Praise and gratitude has to be put out there publicly,” he said. 

Councillor Mary Bain Lockhart (Labour for Lochgelly, Cardenden and Benarty) was more conservative with her praise. 

As the recipient of “literally hundreds of complaints” from local residents during the worst of the flaring, Cllr Lockhart said it wasn’t “like living next to Mordo but instead like living in it”. 

“It took years to improve and it actually took threats from SEPA and the Health and Safety Executive to actually close [the plant] down,” she said. 

“I’m very glad what’s happened has happened and we’re all very grateful that we’re no longer having the disruption to our daily lives that we were experiencing, but it wasn’t because of the suffering to the communities that Shell and Exxon made the investment that was necessary to make people feel that the plants were safe and that their lives were not disrupted by it.” 

She added: “Congratulations for what they’ve done, I’m glad it’s happened, and I’m grateful it’s happened, but it’s taken a long time and I don’t think it was done purely out of altruistic reasons.” 

The Mossmorran complex consists of two neighbouring plants: Fife Natural Gas Liquids (Fife NGL) plant operated by Shell, and Fife Ethylene Plant (FEP) operated by ExxonMobil.

In 2019, a series of “significant unplanned flaring events” at Fife Ethylene Plant triggered a huge backlash, and a large number of complaints were received by the operators and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).

However, since then, there has been “significant investment by both operators” – including an £140m upgrade project by ExxonMobil to improve reliability and reduce the need for flaring. 

According to the report, the investments have reduced the amount of noise and vibration previously reported by local residents during flaring events, and they continue to be effective. 

SEPA has also continued air quality monitoring in 2023 and has maintained continuous noise monitoring at two locations throughout the past year.

The annual reports will also continue coming to the Environment, Transportation & Climate Change Scrutiny Committee.