There is nothing new about the industry. The Scots pioneered oil shale on an industrial scale in the 1850s near the River Forth, for use in London street lamps. The Paraffin Light Company near Edinburgh was the biggest oil works in the world in the 1860s. The West Lothian Council now runs the spoil heaps as a protected biosphere, home to rare plants and animals. The grasslands are dotted with the Orchis Mascula.