Diesel laundering costs Louth €1m

THE cost to the taxpayer of cleaning up the toxic sludge left by diesel laundering will reach nearly €1 million for 2011 in one county alone.

Figures from Louth County Council confirm there has been a four-fold increase in the volume of the sludge being dumped around the county compared with 2010 and a 13-fold increase on 2009.

In neighbouring Co Monaghan, the council has seen “a marked increase in 2011”, when it dealt with 37 incidents of diesel wash waste dumping compared with just one in 2010.