Help investigate the mystery ClimateCamp oil slick – the story so far

Over the weekend an investigation has been progressing into police claims of an "extremely reckless and dangerous act" that they linked to Edinburgh's ClimateCamp.

In their press release last week,?Lothian and Borders Police put out a press release stating that around 9.30am "it was discovered that two arterial routes to Edinburgh were badly affected after a substance similar to diesel or vegetable oil was poured onto the carriageways.

"City of Edinburgh Council had to use 7.5 tonnes of grit to clean the A720 at Bankhead and the west bound A8.

"Lothian Buses removed its vehicles from the roads for a spell while the cleaning operation was carried out. The roads were never closed, but Police urged motorists to proceed with caution until noon when the road was clear once more."

Despite the press release being widely reported in the press, investigations on the site have so far found no evidence of any oil slick on the A720 or A8 in records from Traffic Scotland or the UK Traffic Reports Archive, which?aggregates (and stores) traffic updates from the UK highways agency, and Traffic Scotland, amongst other bodies.

Guardian Local in Edinburgh have submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) request on the matter. The police have suggested they re-apply in two months.?

Other members of the investigation have submitted separate FOI requests on separate matters.

The investigation still needs help following up avenues with possible witnesses and other bodies that would have been affected by such an oil slick. If you want to join in, sign up at http://helpmeinvestigate.com/investigations/187 – and if you need an invite, just drop me a line on paul (at) helpmeinvestigate.com

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