(1)Where it appears to a river authority that any poisonous, noxious or polluting matter is present in an inland water in the area of the river authority, and has entered that inland water in consequence of an accident or other unforeseen act or event, the river authority, subject to the following provisions of this section, may carry out such operations as the authority consider necessary or expedient for ether or both of the following purposes, that is to say—
(a)removing that matter from the inland water, and disposing of it in such manner as the authority consider appropriate, and
(b)remedying or mitigating any pollution caused by its presence in the inland water.
(2)The power conferred by the preceding subsection does not include power to construct any works, other than works of a temporary character which are removed on or before the completion of the operations.
(3)Section 3(5) of this Act shall apply in relation to the powers conferred by this section as if they had been included among the functions of river boards transferred to river authorities by section 5 of this Act; and those powers shall be included among the transferred functions of river authorities accordingly.
(4)In section 135(2)(a) of this Act the reference to functions relating to river pollution includes the powers conferred by this section.
(5)Nothing in this section shall be construed as derogating from any duty of a river authority to enforce the provisions of the Rivers (Prevention of Pollution) Acts 1951 to 1961 in their area.