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 eve...