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Two individuals have been arrested as part of an inquiry into the dumping of many thousands of metric tons of refuse in a open field in Oxfordshire.

Law enforcement stated that a man in his late sixties was detained at a dwelling in Andover, Hampshire, while a man in his fifties was taken into custody in Slough in connection with the huge mound of waste tipped near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These apprehensions occur a week after a previous report which revealed the existence of in excess of 500 unauthorized sites in England, including at a minimum of 11 so-called "super sites" larger than 20,000 tons.

A official for the regulatory agency stated that the apprehensions were for environmental and money laundering crimes and represented a "key step" in ongoing inquiries. The apprehended men have been set free on conditional release.

Magnitude of the Problem

The tipping ground in near Kidlington, situated between the Cherwell River and the A34 road, is believed to house about 21,000 tonnes of refuse in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) in height.

This heap of garbage is consists of what appears to be treated household rubbish, fragmented plastics, polystyrene, tyres and assorted everyday objects.

It is just one example of 517 illegal dumps throughout the country, at a minimum of 11 of which hold over 20,000 metric tons of garbage. They include a 280,000-tonne location in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire county and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The overall number of such major dumps is expected to be larger, as the regulatory body has earlier stated it does not hold data on weight for every unlawful dump.

The majority sites are in agricultural settings, frequently out of sight, and on land that is zoned as farm land.

Organised Operations

Law enforcement state many are operated by organized crime groups, who are generating money by asking for significantly less than legitimate companies to accept and landfill rubbish.

Businesses have to incur site fees to use legitimate disposal sites, contingent on the volume and category of refuse they are trying to discard, and landfill tax is also charged at just over £126 per ton.

Local Frustration

Initial efforts to clean up the affected location commenced in recent weeks following fears over the potential of blaze and the impact that would have on the close-by A-road.

A contracted waste clearance company has been granted the job to deal with the location over the next 12 months at a price of £9.6m.

An enforcement officer for the country's environment team commented that the body would be looking to claim back the clearance costs under proceeds of crime legislation from anyone ultimately convicted at the conclusion of its active inquiry.

She noted that the recent arrests would help "move the inquiry forward" and allow the agency to "investigate more lines of inquiry to understand precisely what happened and who was a party to it".

"This illegal site at Kidlington was an appalling and intentional attack on our ecology and officials share the community's anger at this egregious act," she stated.

A government official praised the actions, commenting: "This unauthorized tipping of rubbish at the site is disgraceful and has caused significant damage to the natural world and anguish to the local community.

"Our government is dedicated to eliminating this category of crime across the nation, by boosting resources to combat illegal dumping, recruiting more staff and introducing tougher checks and sanctions for those who violate the rules."

The apprehensions were carried out on the specified day by officers from a specialist crime squad and are in addition to an previous apprehension of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area area in last November. He was released subject to additional enquiries.