Why do the oil companies always have to immediately dismiss these events and try to cover up the information? Is it asking too much of our political leadership to demand accountability?
The flow of oil from the worst spill in UK waters in the past decade, at one of Shell's North Sea platforms, has been "greatly reduced" but not yet stopped completely, the government said on Monday.
Stuart Housden, director of RSPB Scotland, said: "We know oil of any amount, if in the wrong place, at the wrong time, can have a devastating impact on marine life. Currently thousands of young auks – razorbills, puffins and guillemots – are flightless and dispersing widely in the North Sea during late summer. So they could be at serious risk if contaminated by this spill."
Greenpeace criticised Shell for not being sufficiently open about the progress of the spill, which was first discovered on Wednesday but not announced publicly by the company until Friday.
Shell said on Monday that it could not quantify the volume of oil spilled so far, but put it at 1,300 barrels, with a residual leak of about 5 barrels a day that has still to be stopped. Last year's BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico was estimated to be spilling up to 70,000 barrels a day. Shell said it could not predict when the leak would be halted completely.
