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Ireland's political and cultural magazine
F
uel laundering is an environmental crime.
It could be ended by a simple political
decision to end the system where green
diesel is sold at a lower level of taxation,
for use in agriculture and a number of other areas.
(Red diesel is used in the UK, including the North).
Those legitimate users could be paid a rebate on
the diesel they use.
The Irish Road Haulage Association esti-
mates that fuel laundering costs the Exchequer
€m per year. However, a spokesperson for
the Department of Finance said they had no inten-
tion of abandoning the current system: “A rebate
system would involve the establishment of an
extensive repayments system which would give
rise to a significant administrative burden and
costs for oil traders, users and Revenue as well as
posing significant cash-flow costs for those who
currently use marked oil”.
The spokesperson said such a system would
only be practicable if the UK were to do likewise,
but the UK Treasury said it was “not something
we are actively considering”.
Fuel laundering is wrongly perceived as a vic-
timless crime. Launderers remove dye from the
diesel, then sell it on as normal white diesel. This
means road-users pay normal prices for a sub-
standard product. Worse, the waste causes serious
environmental damage.
A decade ago sulphuric acid was most used, but
this is changing. In the North, nine of plants
seized to date in this tax year used Fuller’s Earth;
seven used cat litter; four used sulphuric acid.
The process is simpler using Fuller’s Earth or cat
litter. The launderers do not require an alkali to
neutralise the acid. Thus they do not require a
second tank. Fuller’s Earth has the advantage of
being used for many legitimate industrial proc-
esses. Unlike sulphuric acid, it is not dangerous
to the user.
All of the processes produce significant quan-
tities of hazardous waste. Laundering ,
litres of fuel produces approximately , litres
of waste. Last year authorities in the North found
, litres of this waste. It can be estimated
that a much larger quantity was not found, but
illegally dumped.
Cleaning up places a burden on the Exchequer.
The Department of the Environment had spent
over € million last year to the start of December,
on incidents. In the North, local councils
must meet the cost. It puts a serious burden on
Newry and Mourne District Council in particu-
lar which last year alone spent the equivalent of
€,).
They are reckless. A couple of years ago their
waste got into the water supply for Aughnacloy,
Co Tyrone. The diesel also causes hazard on the
road. It is usually shifted in vehicles not designed
to carry oils that often leak diesel onto the road
surface, causing multiple accidents, for example
on the Armagh-Monaghan road.
The launderers have become busier. In the
North, Customs found plants three years ago,
but in the first nine months of this tax year. In
Louth last year, council officials found times
as much waste as in . This reflects a diver-
sification from smuggling, less profitable due to
a weak Euro.
Fuel laundering is profitable. A few years ago
a major Co Monaghan-based fuel launderer pro-
duced £, in cash from a bag to buy land
in Co Tyrone. Customs in the North estimate that
launderers make a profit of p (c) per litre. In
the Republic green diesel costs round c to c
per litre but ordinary diesel averages €.. In
the North, a litre of red diesel is approximately
p (.c), while the average price of ordinary
diesel at the pumps is £. (€.).
The Northern market is thus particularly prof-
itable. However, because the UK’s Registered
Dealers in Controlled Oils scheme makes red die-
sel more traceable, most diesel being laundered in
the North is green diesel from the Republic.
The risk is significantly lower than with drugs.
The maximum penalty in the Republic is a fine of
€, or imprisonment for five years, or both.
In the UK it is seven years imprisonment.
There is a belief that the authorities toler-
ate some fuel launderers because they are seen
as Republicans who support the peace process.
Former Ulster Unionist Assembly candidate
Kenny Donaldson from Crossmaglen said this
was causing resentment. “Many would suspect
that the scarce number of prosecutions indicates
a reluctance on the part of the authorities from
both jurisdictions to face down individuals due
to a fear of “rocking the Peace Process boat”, says
Donaldson.
While the North is the most profitable market,
laundered diesel is also common in the Republic.
The Irish Road Haulage Association estimates that
laundered fuel accounts for % of the road die-
sel market.
Filling stations are not explicitly offered laun-
dered diesel. A filling station operator told Village
that he has been offered a supply of diesel at an
impossibly cheap price.
Fuel launderers are particularly active in South
Armagh and neighbouring parts of Monaghan and
Louth.
There is easy access from this area to the two
biggest markets on the island, Dublin and Belfast.
Since the Border was established, smuggling has
been endemic.
Because of the Troubles, police withdrew from
South Armagh for many years. Since the process of
fuel laundering is similar to making home-made
explosives, former IRA members have transferred
their skills.
People aligned with dissident Republicans are
also involved, though fuel laundering is mostly
associated with people from a Republican back-
ground. The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) was
also involved in the past. Obviously, most laun-
derers are ordinary criminals with no political
pretensions.
While the North is the most profitable market,
laundered diesel is also common in the Republic.
The Irish Road Haulage Association estimates that
laundered fuel accounts for % of the road die-
sel market.
As long as a market exists, fuel laundering,
filthy, but with a whiff of cordite that appeals in
certain sectors, will continue.
Diesel laundering is lucrative but filthy and
dangerous and could easily be stopped
Dirty laundering
anton mccabe
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