Fuel laundering is a major problem in this area
Louth Local Authorities have dealt with almost 600 cases of illegal fuel laundering and waste dumping in the county over the past five years at a cost of almost €4 million.
That’s according to new figures released by Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly, who revealed that there were more than 1,200 cases in border counties since 2011.
Almost half of the clean-up operations took place in Louth where 596 cases have been reported. Neighbouring Monaghan was closely behind with 509 sites, while Cavan, Donegal, Offaly, Meath and Waterford also had similar operations carried out.
The issue was raised at a recent meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council in Armagh when a detailed report on the problem by Senator Paul Coghlan was discussed.
In a report to the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly in February, Mr Coghlan detailed the scale of the illegal cross-border trade worth hundreds of millions of euro a year and called for new cross-border task force to combat it.
Mr Coghlan will this morning address the members of Louth County Council about the need for a new approach to the problem, which has had a direct impact on the water quality in the county in recent years.
Minister Kelly revealed in response to a Dáil question recently that since 2011 more than €5 million had been allocated to local authorities by his department to deal with the problem, with almost €4 million of that being spent in Louth.
Talk of the Town 