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Two individuals have been detained as part of an investigation into the tipping of several thousand of metric tons of waste in a open field in Oxfordshire, England.

Law enforcement reported that a 69-year-old was arrested at a residence in Andover, Hampshire, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in the town of Slough in relation with the enormous pile of garbage tipped near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These arrests come after a prior revelation which uncovered the operation of more than 500 unlawful tips throughout England, featuring at minimum 11 so-called "super sites" bigger than 20,000 tons.

A representative for the environment authorities commented that the apprehensions were for ecological and money laundering violations and represented a "key step" in ongoing probes. The apprehended men have been released on conditional release.

Magnitude of the Problem

The illegal site in near Kidlington, located between the Cherwell River and the A34, is thought to house approximately 21,000 tons of refuse in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) high.

This mound of garbage is composed of what looks to be treated household waste, fragmented plastics, expanded polystyrene, automobile tires and various household articles.

It constitutes just one of 517 illegal dumps across the country, at a minimum of 11 of which contain more than 20,000 metric tons of waste. They encompass a 280,000-tonne area in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne dump in the county of Kent.

The overall number of such major sites is probably to be higher, as the regulatory body has previously indicated it does not possess records on tonnage for all illegal site.

The majority such locations are in countryside areas, often hidden, and on land that should be arable property.

Organised Operations

Authorities state many are managed by organised crime gangs, who are generating cash by charging much less than legitimate firms to take and dispose of rubbish.

Businesses have to pay site fees to use legitimate waste facilities, contingent on the volume and category of waste they are trying to dispose of, and a waste tax is also levied at just over £126 per ton.

Local Anger

Preparatory work to remove the affected location began recently following worries over the threat of fire and the effect that would have on the adjacent A-road.

A commercial waste removal firm has been granted the task to remediate the area over the following 12 months at a cost of £9.6m.

An compliance official for the national environment division stated that the body would be looking to recover the remediation funds under confiscation legislation from any party found guilty at the conclusion of its ongoing inquiry.

She further stated that the recent apprehensions would help "push the probe forward" and allow the agency to "investigate more lines of inquiry to determine exactly what happened and who was implicated".

"The illegal dump at the site was an appalling and deliberate assault on our natural surroundings and officials understand the community's outrage at this terrible crime," she stated.

A cabinet representative welcomed the detentions, commenting: "The illegal deposit of waste at Kidlington is disgraceful and has resulted in substantial harm to the ecology and distress to the surrounding residents.

"The administration is pledged to eliminating this type of illegal activity in the nation, by increasing resources to combat illegal dumping, recruiting more officers and implementing tougher measures and fines for those who violate the rules."

The detentions were made on Thursday by officers from a dedicated crime team and follow an earlier arrest of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area in November. He was released awaiting more investigations.