There has been a significant rise in the number of clean up operations carried out in Co Louth to deal with the toxic waste left by diesel launderers, a new report has shown.
The number of finds made in the first half of 2011 was over a third more than in all of 2010.
According to a report given to councillors today, the local authority has seen an increase of over 134% over the last two-and-a-half years in the number of finds.
Diesel laundering involves the removal of a coloured dye from cheaper agricultural diesel and selling the washed diesel on as ordinary road fuel at a huge profit. However, in the process highly toxic sludge is left behind and then dumped by the criminals involved, usually on roadsides.
In the first six months of the year the council came across 20 such finds, 14 of which were abandoned on the side of the road. The material has to be moved carefully and exported to a hazardous waste facility in Germany.
The cost so far for the council this year has amounted to €384,000, but it is expected to rise to over €750,000 by the end of the year.
The taxpayer ends up footing the bill as the costs are recouped from the Department of the Environment.
