AN OIL laundering plant with the capacity to launder 12 million litres of fuel per annum was uncovered by Revenue officers and gardaí in Co Louth yesterday.
The plant, which was concealed in a 40-foot trailer, was discovered in Courtbane, Hackballscross near the Border with Armagh.
A mobile oil laundering plant was also discovered in a van, along with two tankers, 25,000 litres of product and ancillary equipment all of which were seized.
The discovery, the first oil laundering plant to be detected this year, was “quite substantial” according to a spokeswoman for the Revenue Commissioners.
“A site with a capacity for 12 million litres of fuel annually means that if it hadnt been found it would have represented a potential loss to the exchequer of €6 million per annum,” she claimed.
Two men, one of who is in his late twenties and with an address in Dublin, the other who is in his early thirties and from Northern Ireland, were arrested by gardaí.
They were being detained last night under in Dundalk Garda Station for offences relating to the Waste Management Act.
A quantity of highly toxic waste material, a by-product of the process which removes colouring from agricultural dieseal so it can be sold at the higher price which applies to commercial fuel, was also discovered at the Louth site.
Meanwhile 5,000 litres of diesel sludge was found on a busy road at Mullyash, between Castleblayney, Co Monaghan and Newtownhamilton, Co Armagh, yesterday, sparking fears of potential pollution in the area. “We had to act immediately to halt any seepage,” a Monaghan Co Council spokesman said.
“There is huge concern in the border region that waterways can be polluted and a serious threat posed to the health of livestock from any chemical seepage that could occur.”
However, he added that the emergency services had succeeded yesterday in dealing effectively with the illicit dumping.
Gardai in border regions have renewed an appeal to rural dwellers to report any suspicious activity which could entail illegal fuel sludge dumping. The cost of clearing illicit sludge dumping on border roads in Louth and Monaghan has exceeded €4.1 million.