Pollution caused by green diesel laundering cost the Exchequer €5.5m over five years.
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Figures published by Environment Minister Denis Naughten this week show that his department provided the multi-million funding over five years to local authorities in the border region to dispose of diesel laundering waste. The costs arose nearly entirely in Co Louth and Co Monaghan, where fraudsters removing the green dye from agricultural diesel were linked to more than 1,000 dumping incidents.
Pollution
“The illegal deposition of the waste material arising from diesel laundering activities presents the local authorities with major difficulties as the task of cleaning up the material needs to be dealt with to avoid threats to the environment,” Minister Naughten said in reply to a parliamentary question by Sligo-Leitrim Sinn Féin TD Martin Kenny. “The laundering process requires the use of chemicals such as sulphuric acid and bleaching agents and results in a waste byproduct, a tar-like chemical compound or sludge, with the potential for environmental pollution, particularly in relation to watercourses.”
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The worst year on record was 2012, when the Government spent more than €1.3m to help Louth County Council alone clean up after diesel smugglers.
The cost fell markedly in 2015 to €589,000 across all border counties. “In April 2015, the UK and Ireland both introduced a new fuel marker, and there has been a significant decline in the number of incidents and tonnages of fuel laundered waste arising as a consequence,” Minister Naughten explained. He added that co-ordinated enforcement by Revenue, local authorities and the Government continues to deal with diesel laundering.
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Figures published by Environment Minister Denis Naughten this week show that his department provided the multi-million funding over five years to local authorities in the border region to dispose of diesel laundering waste. The costs arose nearly entirely in Co Louth and Co Monaghan, where fraudsters removing the green dye from agricultural diesel were linked to more than 1,000 dumping incidents.
Pollution
“The illegal deposition of the waste material arising from diesel laundering activities presents the local authorities with major difficulties as the task of cleaning up the material needs to be dealt with to avoid threats to the environment,” Minister Naughten said in reply to a parliamentary question by Sligo-Leitrim Sinn Féin TD Martin Kenny. “The laundering process requires the use of chemicals such as sulphuric acid and bleaching agents and results in a waste byproduct, a tar-like chemical compound or sludge, with the potential for environmental pollution, particularly in relation to watercourses.”
The worst year on record was 2012, when the Government spent more than €1.3m to help Louth County Council alone clean up after diesel smugglers.
The cost fell markedly in 2015 to €589,000 across all border counties. “In April 2015, the UK and Ireland both introduced a new fuel marker, and there has been a significant decline in the number of incidents and tonnages of fuel laundered waste arising as a consequence,” Minister Naughten explained. He added that co-ordinated enforcement by Revenue, local authorities and the Government continues to deal with diesel laundering.
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