The taxpayer will have to cover the cost of disposing of 15,000 litres of highly toxic sludge-like waste found near the Border in Co Louth.
It is the byproduct of smugglers along the Border involved in "washing" or laundering diesel.
Since 2003, Louth has spent almost €2 million in dealing with such waste. By the end of this month Louth County Council expects to have spent €300,000 this year on disposing of the waste. A spokeswoman said that unlike other years, the council would have to apply to the Department of the Environment to recoup its costs.
The council is obliged to address the environmental impact of such finds and, because it contains acids and other hazardous chemicals which cannot be disposed of in the Republic or Northern Ireland, it has to be exported.
"Most of the cost is in properly packaging and then transporting it to Germany for disposal," said the spokeswoman.
The sludge is what is left after coloured agricultural diesel is treated with chemicals to remove the colour so it can be sold as regular auto diesel, resulting in huge profits for the smugglers.
They take advantage of the different excise duties between agricultural and auto diesel and subsequent profit margins.
This latest discovery was made on private land on the Armagh road out of Dundalk.
It posed additional problems because the large plastic bulk containers and drums in which the sludge was stored were old and were left on their sides, resulting in seepage into the soil.
"We immediately put lime down to treat any contamination that may have taken place and we are removing any soil which has been affected and it too will have to be exported for disposal," according to the department spokeswoman.
Environmental teams from the council were on site as soon as the find was reported on Wednesday afternoon.
The waste was probably dumped the previous night.