Tomorrow will be one month since we sent our open letter – time for a little update. *** What has happened since? *** - It was a shockingly slow and frustrating process, but the majority of the oil from the February oil spill has finally been cleaned up and removed. Most doesn’t mean all of it, unfortunately. There is still some uncollected oily rubbish at Old Ford Lock – and still (or again?) oil on the river. The above photo on the right was taken today (Friday 13th April). - We’ve received replies from the Canal & River Trust and the Environment Agency, stating that they followed their procedures. If following the procedure results in an environmental disaster, we need to change those procedures! - Sadly, we haven’t heard back at all from Michael Gove, DEFRA and other government and opposition parties that the letter was addressed to. Our campaign was triggered by a local event, but the underlying issues that led to this environmental disaster very much affect the whole country. *** So what’s next? *** - We want to make sure any future oil spills or other environmental emergencies are properly addressed. We are working hard with our partners to make that reality. - We will remind government and opposition stakeholders that problems don’t just go away by ignoring them. - Meetings with the Canal & River Trust and the Environment Agency to discuss strategy improvements are in the oily pipeline. *** We still need your help! *** Our petition now has 6,287 signatures – it’s great to see that so many people care! Keep sharing and spreading the word. If you have ideas about future improvements, post them in the comments or send an email to leaboaters {at} gmail.com Thanks! Lea Boaters Collective