CLAIMS by the environmental watchdog group Greenpeace that the

Scottish Office has allowed Scotland's rivers and coastal waters to

become an industrial sewer were dismissed last night as selective,

distorted, and out of date.

A report is published today alleging that the Scottish Office has been

sanctioning ''legal pollution'' by companies such as British Petroleum

and ICI, and that the river purification boards responsible for policing

the discharge of toxic waste have failed to halt industrial abuse.

Calling for an end to the ''consents'' system which grants Government

licences to companies to pump chemicals into Scotland's waterways,

Greenpeace says that river purification boards have ''an appalling

record of enforcing already weak pollution laws'', and that firms have

been allowed to break their legal pollution levels ''over 30% of the

time''.

The report lists BP Chemicals, BP Oil and ICI at Grangemouth,

Glaxochem, Lothian Chemical Company, BA Chemicals, British Alcan at

Lochaber, the UK Atomic Energy Authority at Dounreay, Beecham

Pharmaceuticals, Bardyke Chemicals, and ICI Nobels Explosives as

''Scotland's top toxic polluters''.

According to Greenpeace, Scottish industry is ''attempting to hide its

toxic waste crisis'' by a policy of building longer outfall pipes or by

diverting industrial waste into the sewage system.

Of a total of 1440 listed industrial discharges, 524 are linked to

sewage to evade public scrutiny, it claims. Information about waste

dumped in sewage is confidential.

A Scottish Office spokesman said last night: ''The Greenpeace

statement provides a highly selective and distorted picture of the

effectiveness of Scotland's pollution control regime in protecting the

waters round our coasts.

''In fact, over 90% of Scotland's inshore waters are of excellent or

good quality, and less than 4% of our estuaries are of poor or bad

quality. Significant improvements have been achieved in recent years,

significantly through the operation of our system of strictly-controlled

consents applied by the river purification boards.

''Scotland is playing its full part internationally in implementation

of the commitments made at the Third North Sea Conference at the Hague

to reduce by 50% by 1995 inputs to the maritime environment of certain

dangerous substances via rivers and estuaries. Substantial progress is

already being made towards this target.

''The introduction in April this year of the new system of integrated

pollution control, specificially targeted on improving the operation of

processes giving rise to the most polluting substances, will also make

an important contribution.''

A spokesman for BP said: ''We are spending #4m on a new effluent

treatment plant at Grangemouth. That is a measure of the concern about

pollution.

''Our licence to discharge cadmium and vanadium into the Forth was

withdrawn earlier this year. It was withdrawn because the amount

involved had fallen below the level of environmental concern. A great

deal of the Greenpeace report seems to be based on out-of-date

figures.''

Professor David Mackay, general manager of the North-East River

Purification Board, added: ''The Greenpeace report would be very fair if

it were not for the fact that it is based on 1990 statistics. In the

past two years, we have been pursuing an active policy of tracking down

culprits guilty of pollution.

''In an area where there are major distilleries, the only body we have

taken legal action against this year is Grampian Regional Council. That

says it all. The position is vastly improved since 1990, and we will

continue to enforce a very firm policy.''

A British Alcan spokesman said: ''The Greenpeace report contains

several major inaccuracies and gross distortions which lead us to

question the validity of the entire document, and the competence and

motives of those who issued it.

''We have just spent #4m on environmental improvement projects and

take the issue very seriously indeed. Greenpeace alleges 11 breaches of

the law at our plants in the past year. BA Chemicals admits to just two,

and both were minor infringements involving no dangerous chemicals.''

The Forth River Purification Board said: ''We recognise the need to

reduce persistent toxic substances in the estuary, but it is not helpful

for Greenpeace to overstate the case.

''It is to be regretted that this organisation has focussed on minor

breaches of consent levels. These are deliberately set at over-stringent

levels to protect against such breaches.

''The fact is that the quality of water in the Forth is good and

getting better. The evidence of overall improved quality is that 26 fish

species have established in the estuary, including the salmon and the

pollution-sensitive sparling, absent for decades and now a

well-established breeding population. Seals also thrive in these waters.

''BP Oil and ICI will have invested a total of #70m on biological

treatment plants within the next three years, and all environmental

standards are being met.

''It is the mission of the board further to reduce water pollution in

its catchment area. It recognises that this can be achieved only at a

pace which does not destroy the economic base for employment of the

people in the Forth Valley.''

Mr Tim Birch, Greenpeace's marine pollution spokesman, said: ''The UK

Government committed itself 18 years ago to eliminating pollution of the

marine environment by dangerous chemicals by signing the Paris

Convention. Yet it has completely failed to carry out its promise, and

Scottish industry continues to contribute to the UK's record as the

Dirty Man of Europe.''