Oil firm fined £25,000 for spill

Oil company BP has been fined £25,000 following a pollution alert in the North Sea. The firm was prosecuted after diesel gushed into the water as a supply vessel refuelled the Lomond Platform, about 160 miles east of Aberdeen. It was a "routine operation", but 65 tonnes of fuel - intended to power the platform's generators - was discharged into the sea. A spokesman for BP said the company "regretted" the accident. He added that the firm had carried out its own investigation, along with an inquiry conducted by the authorities. The official stressed that the energy giant had learned lessons and "remedial action" had been taken in an effort to prevent a similar spill. The accident on the platform, which is owned by the BP subsidiary Amoco, happened more than two years ago but the case has only just been heard at Aberdeen Sheriff Court. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4498476.stm