Photo: Vincent van Zeijst
The Scottish authorities might be on the verge of repeating past mistakes, a leading industry expert alerts. According to Rod Smith, quoted by the The Sunday Herald, the local councils might have made the same mistake twice by not making the opencast coal companies put aside enough money to clean up after their mess.
The Herald’s article reveals that these same councils were alerted seven years ago. At the time, they knew about the major crisis they could face when the time came to fund the restoration of old mine sites if the coal firms went bust.
The study, presented in 2006, exposed multiple flaws in the system of insurance bonds meant to cover the costs of restoring ruined landscapes.
The report was conducted by Smith, who has managed and advised on opencast sites in Scotland for 37 years. Now, he’s concerned about the possible problems affecting the restoration of new opencast mines, currently planned for Cauldhall Moor, south of Edinburgh. The mine, located near Penicuik, received a green light from the Midlothian Council last month.
Photo: RonAlmog
Faced with this problem, an investigation based on Smith’s study will be undertaken by Audit Scotland. But the members of the Scottish parliament, as well as environment and community groups, are also demanding a second investigation into the matter.
Just last week, the Court of Session determined that the liquidators for the defunct Scottish Coal company couldn’t abandon their responsibility for old mine sites. However, some campaigners warned that this is unlikely to actually help restore the sites due to funding shortages and legal get-outs.