Mossmorran: Huge flaring during chemical plant restart

Image copyright Darren Watt

Huge gas flaring was visible at the Mossmorran petrochemical plant in Fife on Thursday night as operators ExxonMobil restart the plant.

Many local residents took to social media to complain, with reports of the flames being visible from Edinburgh.

The plant was shut down last year following persistent flaring episodes.

ExxonMobil said the elevated flare was being used as part of the restart work, and apologised for any intrusion.

A spokesman said the process of restarting the plant was "safe and controlled", adding: "Our team are working to reduce both the size and duration of the flare."

He continued: "We apologise to communities for any concern that we may have caused."

In recent years local residents have complained of repeated unscheduled flaring incidents leading to noise, disturbed sleep, light pollution and vibration to houses.

The process of flaring involves burning off gas that cannot be processed. The site, which is shared by ExxonMobil Chemical Ltd and Shell Fife NGL, is used to produce ethylene.

Although the technique is legally permitted, it causes significant light and noise pollution which the operator is obliged to minimise.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) said in a post on social media that it was "receiving a high volume of calls" about the flaring, adding that it was "working hard to address the root-causes of 'unacceptable flaring', making flaring an exception rather than the routine".

It added that it was requiring the operator to make changes which would make a "real difference to local communities".

Residents from miles around the plant, which is close to Cowdenbeath, took to social media to complain - with one Twitter user in Edinburgh describing the flare "as bright as streetlights", despite being 12 miles (19km) away.