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(c) to abate or remove, or cause to be abated or removed,
all or any impediments, obstructions or nuisances whatsoever
in the stream or on the banks thereof.
Such powers include the purchase of any necessary land by agreement
or compulsorily and the prohibition of the deposition of any
articles, matter, etc. in the stream or on the banks. Dredging of
streams covered by the Act is also prohibited except with the express
permission of the respective County Council. The County
Council's consent is also required in connection with the erection
of any buildings, etc., in or over the said streams.
Preliminary work to the extent of £20,000 was carried out
and an outline of the proposals to improve the Ravensbourne and
its tributaries was given in my Report for last year. Assurance
has recently been received from the Ministry of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food that a scheme concerning the lower section
of the river and costing £863,800 will rank for a 33| per cent,
grant.
Powers originally given to the Metropolitan Borough Councils
under the Rivers (Prevention of Pollution) Act, 1951, are now
enforced by the London County Council.
ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION
General.—Recognition of air pollution is not new. In 1306 a
Londoner was tried and executed for offending against an Act of
Parliament passed in 1273, and John Evelyn the diarist, in 1661,
complained bitterly of smoke which exposed inhabitants of London
to an "impure and thick mist and filthy vapour" rendering them
liable to "a thousand inconveniences and corrupting of the lungs".
Today, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons from petrol and
diesel eneines respectively undoubtedly foul the air but in the
main, pollution is caused by emission into the air of smoke from the
burning of raw coal. Constituents of such pollution may be
itemised as:—
1. Carbonaceous matter—resulting from incomplete combustion
of the volatile part of coal.
2. Tar—formed in the process of destructive distillation of
bituminous coal.
3. Ash—drawn up from the fire by the rush of air passing
through the fuel.
4. Sulphur—derived from sulphur compounds in coal
(eventually forming sulphurous and sulphuric acids).
5: Grit—particles of unburnt coal carried away in the draught.