An environmental lawyer in the UK is under criminal investigation and could face up to two years in jail for organizing a volunteer cleanup of a polluted East London river. Paul Powlesland spearheaded a 10-day community effort to clear a 250-meter stretch of Alders Brook, a tributary of the River Roding in Barking, in late February.
Working with the River Roding Trust, volunteers successfully removed approximately 200 bags of litter, silt, weeds, and branches from the waterway. Locals reported immediate positive effects, with fish, dragonflies, herons, and reed beds reportedly returning to the revived section within days of the cleanup. Powlesland stated he had spent years attempting to prompt the Environment Agency (EA) to address pollution and fly-tipping in the Roding without success before his group took action.
However, within a week of the cleanup, Environment Agency investigators visited the site. Powlesland subsequently received a letter informing him that his group was under investigation for "unpermitted works," specifically breaching the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016. The agency alleges that the dredging conducted could pose a flood risk and has also raised concerns about waste offences. The maximum penalty for such an offense is a jail sentence of up to two years.
Responding to the investigation, Powlesland criticized the Environment Agency, suggesting they were finally acting "after decades of overlooking serious environmental violations on the Roding." He highlighted the irony of enforcement being directed at volunteers dedicated to environmental restoration, rather than against major polluters like Thames Water for sewage discharges or criminals responsible for illegal dumping along the riverbanks.
Powlesland affirmed his pride in the cleanup's outcome, emphasizing that the restored river section is now thriving with returning wildlife, despite the threat of prosecution. He concluded that this situation appears to expose a fundamental flaw in the EA's approach: pursuing "easy targets" like volunteers while failing to prosecute significant environmental violations.