this post was submitted on 22 Jun 2026
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A Boring Dystopia

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Volunteer Under Investigation for Cleaning Polluted River Without a License, Faces Two Years in Prison (futurism.com)
submitted 12 hours ago by Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/aboringdystopia@lemmy.world
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[–] Baguette@lemmy.blahaj.zone 21 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

Working over ten days, they hired an excavator costing roughly £1,000 and cleared a heavily polluted 250 metre stretch of Alders Brook, a tributary of the River Roding in Barking, East London.

https://www.indiatimes.com/trending/who-is-paul-powlesland-uk-lawyer-who-removed-200-bags-of-river-waste-now-faces-up-to-2-years-in-prison-over-permit-dispute/articleshow/131881504.html

The main issue is that he used heavy machinery for cleanup. If it was by hand it probably wouldn't have resulted in any legal matter

Is 2 years ridiculous? Probably. But using an excavator for cleaning is definitely not a smart move for someone who's a lawyer

For reference an excavator is one of the construction machine with the hydraulic hand that is used to dig or grab stuff

[–] whyNotSquirrel@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 minutes ago* (last edited 3 minutes ago)

In the same post they say he's facing up to 2 years in jail and a image saying he's jailed already for 2 years....

edit: and if you end those permit law I think it might open ways for bad things mostly.

[–] lividweasel@lemmy.world 24 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

The main issue is that he used heavy machinery for cleanup. If it was by hand it probably wouldn't have resulted in any legal matter

Yeah, he went way beyond simply removing trash:

The team removed more than 200 bags of rubbish along with branches, thick layers of silt, weeds, discarded household appliances, used needles and even abandoned weapons. Their goal was to restore the natural flow of the water and remove years of accumulated waste.

He basically dug up the entire riverbed. That isn’t something people should just be doing ad-hoc.

[–] ghurab@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

He basically dug up the entire riverbed. That isn’t something people should just be doing ad-hoc.

Fully agree, but there seems to be no better alternative.

Powlesland told the Guardian he’s asked the agency numerous times to clean the river, but it’s been ignoring him for years.