Shell hit with fines from UK, Canada

ABERDEEN, November 25, 2015 – Shell received two fines on Tuesday for separate incidents involving leaks in the Canada and the UK.

The Ontario government ordered the super-major’s local affiliate, Shell Canada, to pay CAD 825,000 ($620,487) for the January 2013 leak of a contaminating odour from a pipeline at its refinery in the province’s Sarnia.

The discharge contained mercaptan, a gas that nearby residents said caused them a number of health issues, including headaches and vomiting.

Also on Tuesday, a Scottish court hit the company with a fine of £22,500 ($33,919) over a 2011 oil spill from a pipeline in the North Sea.

The spill of 1,300 barrels, which took place at Shell’s Gannet Alpha field, was the worst such accident in the North Sea in a decade when it took place.