The oil petroleum company Total has once again been accused of neglect after an accident at its oil refinery at Donges in the Breton region of Sant-Nazer.

l'Union Démocratique Bretonne (UDB) has said that Total mismanaged the accident that occurred at its refinery last Sunday (16th March 2008), which resulted in the pollution of the Loire estuary. The leak has initially caused pollution to the fauna and flora, but it is expected that the oil will also later run off into the estuary itself causing damage to the ecologically sensitive marine environment.

The UDB have called on the French state to immediately compensate the Breton fishermen whose livelihoods will be affected by the slow reaction of Total in their efforts to clean up the spill. The UDB are also calling for the department of Loire-Atlantique to be given more of a role in safeguarding the Loire estuary in the future.

Last summer, a mysterious oil spill was spotted in the Firth of Forth, Alba/Scotland raising concerns that the sensitive marine environment in the Forth would be damaged. The spill was just one of a number of pollution incidents in the Forth in recent years, which were, for the most part, mismanaged by the Labour led Scottish Executive at the time.

Under the Scottish Nationalist Party however the new Scottish Government has demanded from the Westminster Government that a new Marine Act for Scotland be introduced so that the country's coast and environment is better protected and to prevent such incidents from happening in the future.

Perhaps a similar call for a Marine Act for Breizh should be made by the UDB and other Breton nationalist parties.

Last month Total was ordered to pay millions of euros in compensation for polluting the Breton marine environment after shipping fuel in a rusty tanker that broke apart in a 1999 storm. Following that incident the Breton branch of the Celtic league called for EU action to regulate tanker traffic in sensitive coastal maritime zones.

NB: A wide range of related articles on this subject can be found on Celtic News - simply type 'Oil Spill' into the search engine on the site.

J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League

18/03/08

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