Investigation Report 200401452

Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) - complaint was from Mrs C about the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). Mrs C complained that, because of delay by SEPA in testing samples of oil removed from the shore close to her house in Shetland on 12 September 2002, the source of the pollution could not be established. She considers that SEPA should have made an immediate effort to trace the source of the oil and stop it spreading further. In particular, SEPA should have immediately carried out tests for poison or poisonous effluent at a fish farm adjacent to the shore. However, the fish farm was not inspected by SEPA for a further seventeen days, by which time no pollution was found.