§ MR. JAMES STUARTasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board, What steps are being taken to secure the immediate carrying out by the Tottenham Local Board of the sewage purification works in connection with the discharge of sewage into the River Lea, for which the Local Government Board have sanctioned the borrowing of the necessary money; what prospect there is of these works being completed before the summer; whether he is aware that Petitions to Parliament, setting forth the deplorable state of the River Lea from sewage pollution and the consequent danger to health, and praying for the speedy execution of the work, have been presented from 3,000 inhabitants of the neighbourhood, and from persons in the district using the river for purposes of recreation; and, whether, in the event of the purification works not being completed before the summer, he can say what steps the Local Government Board is prepared to adopt in case of the breaking out of an epidemic in the East of London consequent on the condition of the river?
MR. GEORGE RUSSELLWe have sanctioned a loan of £13,000 for works in connection with the sewage outfall of the Tottenham district with a view to the purification of the sewage before it is discharged into the Lea. We are assured by the Local Board that they will lose no opportunity of pressing forward the completion of the works, and that they will limit the time for their construction to the shortest practicable period. There is no probability, however, of the extensive works proposed being completed before the summer. In the meantime the Local Board will provide certain temporary pumping power. Two large new precipitating 1633 tanks have been completed. We are aware of the complaints as to the condition of the river during the dry season of last year; and we learn that recently, while a new sewer was being constructed, on two occasions one of the sewers broke, and until it was repaired the sewage found its way into the river. If the Local Board proceed promptly in carrying out the works proposed the Board do not at present see that they have any authority to interfere.