The Scotsman is reporting that a company which pled guilty to polluting of the water environment was fined a mere £3,000 for causing an oil slick that spread for nine miles across the Firth of Forth.

The maximum fine faced by Ondeo Industrial Solutions at Falkirk Sheriff Court, was up to £40,000. The Firth of Forth is designated a Special Protection Area due to the number of wading birds which call it home.

Lloyd Austin, head of conservation policy at RSPB Scotland, is quoted on the subject of fines for environmental crimes in Scottish Courts: “There’s a history of them being so low that they don’t provide an effective deterrent,” he said.