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Linda Holt, a Mossmorran Action Group spokeswoman, said the money should be given to the local people affected by the light and noise pollution from the flaring. "The £176,000 fine is a drop in the ocean for a multinational like ExxonMobil," she said. "This is the same company that had to spend more than £140m on emergency upgrades to try to reduce the impacts of its own failing equipment. "That investment alone shows how serious the underlying issues were and how long the community had been forced to endure them." She said the regulatory and legal framework was "far too weak and far too slow". "It took years for enforcement to catch up with a week-long flaring event that caused extreme noise and light pollution, sleepless nights, and genuine fear among residents who live beside the plant." She said any penalties should not "disappear" into Scottish government budgets that have "repeatedly ignored the fence-line communities". Ms Holt added: "The money should be directed to the people who have had their homes shaken, their health and wellbeing affected, and their trust eroded by decades of flaring." She said although they recognised the work Sepa had done it was the community who had pushed the problem into the spotlight. "Without community pressure, there would be no improvements and no consequences."
