Donald Trump’s controversial golf course in Aberdeenshire broke environmental rules last year by again causing damage to sand dunes.
A dune at the US president’s course on the Menie estate was eroded after water was pumped onto it following heavy rain in February 2024, according to documents disclosed to The Ferret.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency was alerted to the damaged dune by a third party, not the course itself.
The green watchdog determined that water environment rules had been broken, although it was considered a “minor” incident.
Course managers said at the time they were doing everything they could to “protect and repair the dune”.
The course is known as the Trump International Golf Links and is located around ten miles north of Aberdeen. It has faced continual criticism from environmentalists for causing damage to a 4,000 year old network of mobile dunes.
Dunes around the course were stripped of their status as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) by Scotland’s nature agency after their special features were damaged by the building of the course.
The Trump organisation’s track record of broken promises coupled with unsustainable hyperbole does not bode well for the second course.
Dr Jim Hansom, University of Glasgow
A second course is set to open on the Menie estate later this year which Trump International has said will be one of the “most environmentally friendly and sustainable” ever built.
But critics say that claim is “ludicrous” and argued the latest damage to dunes was “further evidence of the contempt with which Trump International treats Scotland’s natural heritage”.
Trump International said its “vast coastal estate” is maintained to the “highest specifications and environmental standards” year round. It added that clearing work from a “freak storm” had caused “minor damage to a small and isolated area of our dunes which was immediately rectified”.
Rule breach
The findings come from a freedom of information response provided to The Ferret by Sepa.
It shows that Sepa contacted Trump International Scotland on 8 February 2024 after it was told that “discharge” from a pipe had caused erosion on the beach side of the dunes, less than half a mile south of the clubhouse.
In emails with Sepa, a representative of the course said it had been pumping water off the first fairway over the dune and on to the beach.
“After 12 hours of pumping we turned the pump off and collected in the hose,” they wrote. “We then discovered a 30m length of pipe which was connected onto the larger length of pipe had come off/lost stolen ??”
It was this that had caused the dune to become eroded.
They added: “We will be sure to check this and not leave it 12 hours again if we ever have to undertake this again.
“Please be assured we will do everything we can to protect and repair the dune ridge.” Staff were in the process of planting marram grass to stabilise the dunes, the individual noted.
Sepa acknowledged that the damage to the dune was “not intended” but still breached regulations.
A Sepa spokesperson told The Ferret: “This was found to be a breach of a general binding rule related to the discharge of surface water as part of rural land activities.
“The Balmedie dunes form part of a naturally mobile dune system, and it is in the interest of the operator to ensure their stability.
“For these reasons, no further enforcement action was deemed necessary and Sepa has not received any additional information regarding concerns of erosion at this location.”
Conservation status
Dunes surrounding Trump International, which opened in 2012, officially lost their SSSI status in 2020.
Wildlife agency NatureScot determined that after the building of the course, the dunes had been altered to the extent that they no longer included “enough of the special natural features for which they were designated”.
At that time, Trump International argued it had been singled out and that its “ongoing care of the site far exceeds just about every other SSSI in the country”.
The area had previously been a “very high quality example” of a mobile sand dune system “characteristic of north east Scotland”, NatureScot said, and was of “exceptional importance” to a “wide variety of coastal landforms and processes”.
The dunes were home to a unique community of rare plants and animals including the adders’ tongue fern and moonwort.
The course was granted planning permission in 2008 despite warnings from NatureScot – then known as Scottish Natural Heritage – which advised it would cause serious damage to the protected dunes.
But after Trump promised to preserve the “sanctity and beauty” of the dunes, alongside a £1bn investment and 6,000 jobs, Scottish ministers decided to grant it planning permission. This was on the grounds that the economic benefits would outweigh any environmental damage caused.
The investment has not materialised on anywhere near the scale that Trump pledged. He also shut down an advisory group which was set up to “give advice on how to minimise” adverse environmental impacts.
The second 18-hole course is set to open on the Menie estate later this year, which will be named after Trump’s Lewis-born mother, Mary Anne MacLeod.
Trump International has said the new course will feature the “largest sand dunes in Scotland” and be part of the “greatest 36 holes in golf” alongside the original.
It has also hailed the environmental credentials of the new project, but experts remain unconvinced.
Dr Jim Hansom, a specialist in coastal ecology at the University of Glasgow, branded claims about the care taken by the course of the dunes “ludicrous”.
He told The Ferret: “The Trump organisation’s track record of broken promises coupled with unsustainable hyperbole does not bode well for the second course, which will again engineer and manicure a previously wild and bare sand dunescape.
“Given the damage inflicted on the Menie dunes by course one, why a second course should be allowed to proceed is a sad reflection on the weakness of our decision making processes at the coast.”
(Trump) shouldn’t have any kind of footprint in Scotland let alone one that is doing so much damage to our natural world.
Maggie Chapman MSP, Scottish Greens
Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, argued last year’s environmental breach was “further evidence of the contempt with which Trump International treats Scotland’s natural heritage”.
Scottish Greens MSP Maggie Chapman said: “Time and again Trump has shown that he just doesn’t believe laws apply to him.
“His existing course has already damaged our precious environment while providing a platform for one of the most immoral and repugnant politicians in the world.
“He shouldn’t have any kind of footprint in Scotland let alone one that is doing so much damage to our natural world.”
A spokesperson for Trump International Scotland said: “This vast coastal estate is maintained to the highest specifications and environmental standards 365 days of the year.
“During a freak storm and unprecedented rainfall in early 2024, the clearing work resulted in minor disruption to a small isolated area of our dunes which was immediately rectified.
“We cooperated fully with Sepa and took their advice in addressing this issue.”
Trump vs the environment
Trump has described climate change as a “hoax” and made opposition to clean energy policies a key part of his campaign for re-election.
Since taking office in January he has issued a series of executive orders including ones which withdraw the US from the Paris climate agreement, block clean energy projects, and promote fossil fuels.
He has also introduced measures to weaken protections for endangered species and become embroiled in an unlikely spat over a small fish called the delta smelt.
Trump incorrectly argued that Los Angeles did not have enough water to tackle devastating recent wildfires because of measures to protect the smelt, which he branded an “essentially worthless fish”.
One charity in the US has alleged that “no one in American history has shown more disdain for the environment than Donald Trump” while a leading climate scientist has said his agenda poses “a major threat to the planet”.
The King this week invited Trump to Scotland for a meeting to discuss an unprecedented second state visit to the UK during the second term of his presidency.
The Ferret is an independent, investigative journalism cooperative dedicated to holding power to account. Since 2015, we have reported on corruption, environmental issues, human rights, and political influence in Scotland. Our work is supported by members who believe in journalism that challenges, exposes, and informs. If you value in-depth, fact-based reporting, you can support our work by becoming a member. Join us today: https://theferret.scot/subscribe
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Which lacklustre former Finance Secretary, now filling in as First Minister, was it who obediently overturned the initial planning refusal in 2007?
And did anyone ever bother to query why the grandiose Scottish Development International – a division of clueless quango Scottish Enterprise – concluded that Trump was a fit and proper person to welcome to our shores?
And how was Trumpety allowed to pay with suitcases stuffed with used dollar bills?
Can “The Ferret” provide us with a full list of the gullible MSPs who crawled to this repulsive cretin in 2007 and who continue to pocket £2k+ per week?
Time for a cull…
Bravo – well said!