Friends of the Earth Falkirk/ Friends of the Earth Scotland Zoom Event Tuesday 10 November
Bellow is a brief summary of the meeting. There was a number of voices from local residents, local campaigners, representatives from national groups and others interested in hearing from Mossmorran and Grangemouth experience.
Feedback from the Mosmorran Action Group- James and Linda
When the Mossmorran plant was developed in the 1970’s there was a promise of prosperity and jobs for a community which had been decimated by the deindustrialisation of the tradition industries in fife. The plant was built at an “acceptable distance” from the community. When residents had complaints they were dismissed as individual concerns.
In 2017 there was a major flaring event which led to an angry public meeting. SEPA and the local politicians were present but not the Exxon or Shell . Concerns could no longer be presented at individual concerns. Freedom of Information requests were submitted and the information disclosed was published to inform the community and draw media attention to the communities concerns.
The Mossmorran Action Group was formed and images of the flaring was collected and shared on the MAG website and Facebook page. As people started to share their images and vocalise their concerns a SOCIAL IMPACT MAP was produced online to map where the information residents were sharing.
Actions Speak Louder than Words
With recent periods of high flaring there was an appetite amongst the group to have a presence at the plants gates on a regular bases to raise the profile of the concerns. This has lead to events at Scottish Parliament and support from local politicians during debates in parliament. The group is building a local movement.
Context of Grangemouth Community and Ineos Norman
Grangemouth had a different starting point from Mossmorran. People moved to Grangemouth in the 70’ and 80’s after the discovery on North Sea Oil. Workers moved for well paid jobs and good working conditions with BP, which was a nationalised industry at the time. BP clearly had a social licence and the community were happy to balance any environmental concerns with the economic benefit. This social licence has now been lost by the industry. When BP was privatised the conditions on the workers deteriorated and jobs and job security was reduced. At the same time the ageing plant had more shut downs and flaring was just one of the concerns within the community. However, ironically due to the size of the industry surrounding the town, the industry is virtually invisible to local residents. It becomes invisible until something particularly unusual happens then life just carries on as normal.
Where BP had been good to the workers and the town, Ineos does not even look for a social licence. It has challenged it’s workforce, challenged the community in planning concerns and challenged SEPA and Scottish Government to enable it to continue its business of extraction, refining and manufacturing, as if there wasn't a global climate emergency.
How do we raise Environmental and Climate Justice concerns while engaging with the community and their lived experience of living within the glow of Ineos.
Meeting Discussion
There was a number of residents from Bo’ness. There was an agreement with the description of Grangemouth but concerns were shared that Bo’ness- just 4 miles away from Ineos Plant- are totally ignored by the industry. Where every household in Grangemouth receive Emergency Procedure Cards, the residents of Bo’ness, who are impacted by the pollution and potentially at risk from living close to the plant receive no information. When there is going to be disruption at the plant INEOS post last minute notification in Grangemouth but none of these are directed at Bo’ness Residents. The town would like recognition from INEOS. here has also been a call for SEPA to have an office in Grangemouth to address the environmental concerns Finally there has been ongoing anger with the Scottish Government for overturning local planning decisions in favour of the industry, undermining the democratic processes the community engage in. The Bo’ness Road Closure decision was just the latest example of this undermining of the community, Falkirk Council’s planning officials and the democratic process of a public enquiry.
Within Grangemouth there was recent resistance to the closure of Bo’ness Road but their was a struggle to get support for the Bo’ness Road Action Group. The group did have a couple of actions including picketing a ministerial visit and organising a cycle event- “Get on yer bike”. However, there was a feeling around the town that most residents are apathetic and accepting of their situation.
There was recognition from Grangemouth residents that the town is divided. There is households who have benefited from the oil industry and there remains a is a legacy loyalty. The town now has areas of social deprivation and one in four children in the town are living in poverty. Climate Change might not be these households highest priority right now. The response to the recent XR direct action was mixed with some people being supportive, some people being angry with the traffic disruption, but the majority probably didn’t have an opinion either way
On the day of the meeting Ineos had announced potentially 200 jobs being lost as they reconfigured the plant and scale back operations in the downturn in demand for oil during the pandemic. This highlights the need for a Just Transition for workers and for the oil and gas workers to transition rather than be victims of the need for the oil and gas industry to scale down to meet climate targets.
The Ineos plants along Bo’ness Road, including 5 of the top ten biggest CO2 polluters in Scotland joins up the dots of nearly every Friends of the Earth Scotland Campaign- Climate Justice, Just Transition, Fracking, Circular Economy, Plastics, Air Quality and importantly Community Action.
Possible Action Friends of the Earth can take forward form the meeting:
- Look at replicating the Mossmorran Social Impact Map for Grangemouth
- Look at community engagement in Grangemouth, Bo’ness and Falkirk to listen to the lived experience and concerns, while sharing relevant environmental campaigns. Collect stories and concern by video and text to share the views of local residents.
- Engage in relevant FoE Scotland campaigns through the lens of Grangemouth, Bo’ness and Falkirk.
- Campaign in solidarity with other Scottish sites, such as Mossmorran.
- Campaign in solidarity with Ineos sites across the globe,such as fracking sites and plastic plants. across Europe. Call out Ineos Greenwash
