BORDER fuel retailers are hoping to tackle oil laundering by proving to customers that they supply only legal diesel.
The Irish Petrol Retailers Association (IPRA) yesterday launched a quality assurance scheme for Co Louth, with plans to extend it to other border counties in the future.
Under the scheme retailers can display the QA sign in their forecourts if they agree to have their fuel independently and randomly tested to prove they are not selling laundered diesel.
Criminal gangs are costing the Republic's Exchequer around E 150 million (£128m) annually in lost taxes by 'washing' inferior agricultural diesel and selling it to motorists at full price.
Residue in the laundered diesel can cause serious damage to car engines.
There have also been reports of gangs forcing independent filling stations to accept late-night deliveries of laundered fuel.
Toxic sludge, a by-product of the laundering process, also poses a serious risk to ground-water, threatening to affect tap water supplies and fish stocks in the border region.
Local authorities are responsible for safely disposing of the sludge, sending it to Germany or Holland to be specially treated.
Louth County Council alone spends between E 600,000 and E 1 million annually on tackling the waste problem.
IPRA spokesman David Blevings said the new scheme would help reassure motorists and said that while the government was "finally reaslising" the scale of the problem more needed to be done.
Participating stations will be able to display a sign featuring a large petrol pump with a green tick through it.
Filling stations taking part in the QA scheme will have their fuel tested by Dublin- based Independent Laboratories Ltd while motorists looking for participating retailers can visit www.ipra.ie and down-load an app.