Councils hit with fuel laundering clean-up bill

Local authorities along the border are counting the cost of the worst year yet for cleaning up toxic sludge left behind by illegal fuel laundering.

Figures from Monaghan County Council show it has dealt with 132 incidents relating to the illegal dumping of diesel wash, the sludge left behind by the fuel-laundering process.

This year’s number of incidents in the county far outstrip the total of 97 last year, which was itself the highest number of incidents with which the local authority had been forced to deal.