The River Lea’s modern pollution problems covered in the Guardian
Leo Hickman’s article on the current condition of the river Lea shows how little has changed since the rapid period of suburban and industrial expansion into its wetlands and river valley in the nineteenth century.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/oct/09/river-lee-polluted-source
Sadly, the problems identified in this article are not new. The pollution of the Lea gained national attention a number of times in the second half of the nineteenth century.