Two Border counties have spent more than €1.6 million on the clean-up of toxic sludge from illegal diesel laundering plants over the past five years.
Since 2020, Louth County Council said it spent €1.12 million on dumping by fuel smugglers while Monaghan County Council said its bill was almost €500,000.
The two local authorities said there had been more than 222 clean-up operations in the period between 2020 and midway through last year.
Each of them cost an average of €7,300 with Louth County Council obliged to spend €156,000 in a single quarter in 2023 dealing with a large-scale dumping incident.
Costs have also been rising in that county with the clean-up almost doubling from €188,000 in 2020 to €361,000 in 2023.
Two additional councils, Donegal and Cavan, said they had no costs relating to clean-up from laundering and that it was not an issue affecting their county.
The diesel laundries operate by washing out a green dye in rebated green fuel, or marked mineral oil, to make it colourless.
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When the fuel is devoid of the marker, however, the residue is a damaging toxic sludge that is often dumped by the roadside for councils to clean up.
A Monaghan County Council spokesman said the dumping of “diesel wash” in their county had been a problem for about 25 years.
He said they had dealt with a significant number of dumping incidents resulting in “very substantial clean-up and disposal costs” for the taxpayer.
[ First illegal fuel laundering plant found in Republic for almost three yearsOpens in new window ]
“The aftermath of diesel laundering continues to give rise to significant costs in the county and creates a potential environmental and health and safety hazard,” he added.
He urged anyone with knowledge of diesel laundering or the dumping of waste to report incidents to their local Garda station.
Asked about the more than €1 million spent on tackling illegal waste from fuel smuggling, a Louth County Council spokesman said it was working closely with gardaí and Revenue to tackle the problem.
