What do you think?

[*Ant*]

There's a bloke stripping and repainting his barge on the local canal, he has been moored in my favourite swim for 2 weeks now with the full array of power tools. I was wondering if this is legal as if he is stripping lead paint (which is going straight into the canal), is it a pollution risk. :confused:

 

Any comments on this as it's something that has been on my mind and am considering phoning the EA.

[Little Tinca]

Contact the NRA I think they might like to know....they certainly have the power to stophim...........defouling and stripping boat hulls should be done when the boat is lifted out of the water.....this can be expensive many try to get away with it.I will look for an address for you if you do not have one

[StuMac]

The EA certainly stopped folk doing that sort of work on their boats on beach near Arbroath for that reason.

[Peter Waller]

I think that you need to be sure that he is stripping toxic paints. If it is a traditional barge then the black hull paint might well be tar based. The toxic anti-fouling paint is unlikely to be an issue as the boat would need to come out of the water for that to be removed. It might be worth talking to the actual canal owner which is likely to be British Waterways. The tow path to which he is moored might also come under the control of a club, its worth checking. Everything belongs to someone. Who owns the bank? Who owns the canal?