AQW 38457/11-15

Mrs Sandra Overend
Ulster Unionist Party
Mid Ulster

Tabled Date: 07/11/2014
Answered On Date: 19/11/2014
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of the Environment to detail the locations of the discovery of waste products from illegal fuel smuggling in each of the last five years, including the extent of waste that was identified at each site and the cost of the clean up.

Answer:

Illegal fuel smuggling is dealt with by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The investigation of illegal fuel laundering is led by HMRC, who deal with the disposal of any fuel laundered waste (FLW) that is discovered in association with illegal fuel laundering plant.

However the majority of FLW is dumped indiscriminately in the countryside throughout Northern Ireland and this is dealt with by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA).

NIEA is currently operating a Flytipping Partnership with 21 Councils. The first Council, Newry and Mourne joined the partnership in June 2012. Before June 2012, local Councils dealt with the disposal of this FLW that had been dumped in their respective areas.

Under this partnership Councils can refer cases of Flytipping of under 20m3 of non hazardous waste and certain hazardous wastes including FLW for investigation and or clean up to NIEA.

NIEA does not hold data in respect of FLW before June 2012. From June 2012 until the end of October 2014, 328 separate incidents have been referred to and resolved by NIEA. This has involved NIEA removing a total weight of 2609.85 tonnes of FLW at a total cost of £931,916.37.

Due to the numbers involved and the detail requested I have placed a copy of the information in the Assembly Library. NIEA does not have the cost and weight for each individual case in a readily accessible form, therefore the detailed information has been broken down into a list of addresses, total weight and cost per council area per calendar year.