Blowing grass into the Cut

A WORKER has been walking along a towpath cutting grass but blowing it into the canal.

The man was just walking along waving a blower about and blowing the grass cuttings everywhere for no apparent reason, mostly into the Ashby Canal, Keith Gudgin reports.

Boss told him to

When asked what he was doing he just said he 'was blowing the grass away', when asked why. he said 'because my boss told me to'!

Why is CaRT allowing this disgusting practice asks Keith?  Grass chokes the bed of the waterway and also depletes the water of oxygen stopping natural flora and fauna from growing!  Not a very environmental thing to do or allow I would have thought?  It also gets into boats cooling water intakes and blocks them which can cause extensive engine damage.  Keith's photograph shows the extent of the grass and it is all along the waterway.

Why not prosecuting?

Why is the relevant authority—the Environment Agency, not prosecuting them for this when the:

Water Resources Act 1991, Chapter II, POLLUTION OFFENCES, Section 90, Subsection (2) and (3) state:

(2) A person shall be guilty of an offence under this section if, without the consent of the [F100Agency], he—
(a) causes or permits a substantial amount of vegetation to be cut or uprooted in any inland freshwaters, or to be cut or uprooted so near to any such waters that it falls into them; and
(b) fails to take all reasonable steps to remove the vegetation from those waters.

(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.

Just to be precise that's up to a £25,000 fine!  £25,000 does not appear to show it is being treated as a trivial matter.