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Two men have been taken into custody as a component of an investigation into the dumping of several thousand of tonnes of waste in a field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Law enforcement reported that a 69-year-old was arrested at a residence in Hampshire's Andover, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in Slough, Berkshire in relation with the massive heap of rubbish deposited near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These detentions follow a recent investigation which uncovered the operation of more than 500 unauthorized dumps across the country of England, including at minimum 11 so-called "major sites" bigger than 20,000 metric tons.

A official for the environment authorities said that the arrests were for environmental and proceeds of crime crimes and were a "key step" in ongoing investigations. The apprehended men have been released on pre-trial release.

Scale of the Issue

The illegal site in near Kidlington, located between the Cherwell River and the A34 highway, is estimated to hold about 21,000 tonnes of waste in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) high.

This pile of garbage is made up of what looks to be treated domestic refuse, chopped up plastics, expanded polystyrene, tires and other everyday objects.

It constitutes just one example of 517 unlawful dumps across England, at a minimum of 11 of which contain in excess of 20,000 tonnes of garbage. These include a 280,000-tonne location in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in the county of Kent.

The actual amount of such bigger sites is likely to be greater, as the environment agency has in the past acknowledged it does not possess information on volume for every unauthorized tip.

The majority sites are in agricultural areas, frequently hidden, and on land that is zoned as farm property.

Organised Enterprise

Police state a significant number are operated by organised crime gangs, who are making profit by asking for far less than licensed firms to take and dispose of waste.

Companies have to pay gate fees to use licensed disposal sites, depending on the quantity and type of material they are trying to get rid of, and a disposal levy is also applied at just over £126 per tonne.

Community Frustration

Preparatory operations to clean up the Kidlington dump started earlier this month amid fears over the potential of combustion and the consequences that would have on the close-by major road.

A commercial waste clearance firm has been awarded the contract to deal with the location over the next 12 months period at a price of £9.6m.

An enforcement manager for the government environment division said that the agency would be seeking to claim back the clearance funds under confiscation laws from any party ultimately found guilty at the end of its active case.

She added that the recent detentions would help "move the investigation forward" and enable the agency to "follow more lines of inquiry to ascertain exactly what happened and who was a party to it".

"This unauthorized dump at Kidlington was an atrocious and deliberate assault on our ecology and officials understand the public's anger at this horrific offence," she remarked.

A senior representative welcomed the arrests, stating: "The illegal deposit of garbage at this location is utterly appalling and has led to substantial detriment to the ecology and upset to the local community.

"The administration is pledged to stamping out this kind of crime across the country, by increasing funds to combat illegal dumping, hiring more staff and enacting stricter measures and fines for those who break the rules."

The detentions were executed on the specified day by personnel from a specialist crime squad and come after an earlier detention of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area region in last November. He was let go awaiting additional inquiries.