Friday, December 23, 2016

Auldearn Community Council indicates opposition to S2S oil transfers in the Moray Firth

There was no objection in the Dunbar Hall on Wednesday evening (14th December) to the suggestion that Auldearn CC support the campaign against S2S in the Moray Firth however there wasn't a full complement of Councillors present so the decision will have to be ratified at the next meeting. The minute read:

"It was brought to the Community Council’s attention in November of the Cromarty Firth Port Authority’s application for a licence to carry out ship-to-ship oil transfers in an area of the Moray Firth to the south of the Sutors.

Any oil transfers undertaken have, up to date , been ship-to-shore transfers at the oil terminal at Nigg, and of substantially lower volume than that now proposed.

The number of transfers in the application is stated at 48 per year, which would see a total volume of oil processed at over 8.5 million tons, plus scope for over 2 million tonnes of ballast water to be discharged into the Firth per annum.


The application did not come to the Community Council’s attention as the port authority do not consider Community Council’s on the south side of the Moray Firth as statutory consultees, so we weren’t informed.

Part of our area includes the Nairn Bar and the tidal flats to the landward of it, which are afforded Special Area of Conservancy (SAC) and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) status.

Anything that could possibly prejudice these protected areas and the Moray Firth at large is of concern, and these sentiments were echoed from the floor, unanimously.

Points were raised about the potential for even minor spillages to cause damage to the protected seabird and cetacean species and that, with several large tankers likely to be anchored at any time, the already audible low frequency drone of their generators would become much more pronounced.

There was no objection from the floor to the proposal that Auldearn Community should voice its opposition to these proposals." 


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