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Two individuals have been taken into custody as an element of an investigation into the dumping of thousands of tonnes of waste in a field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Officials indicated that a man in his late sixties was arrested at a residence in Andover, Hampshire, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in Slough, Berkshire in relation with the enormous heap of garbage dumped near the area of Kidlington.

These detentions occur a week after a prior revelation which revealed the presence of more than 500 unlawful sites across England, featuring at a minimum of 11 so-called "large-scale sites" bigger than 20,000 metric tons.

A official for the environment agency commented that the arrests were for environment-related and money laundering offences and were a "vital step" in continuing inquiries. The two individuals have been let go on conditional release.

Scale of the Problem

The illegal site in near Kidlington, located between the river Cherwell and the A34 highway, is estimated to contain approximately 21,000 tons of rubbish in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) tall.

This heap of rubbish is composed of what appears to be processed domestic refuse, chopped up plastic materials, polystyrene, automobile tires and various household articles.

It constitutes just one of 517 unlawful tips across England, at minimum 11 of which hold in excess of 20,000 metric tons of garbage. They feature a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in the county of Kent.

The total figure of such larger sites is expected to be greater, as the environmental agency has earlier acknowledged it does not maintain information on tonnage for every unlawful dump.

A large proportion of these sites are in agricultural areas, often concealed, and on land that should be agricultural ground.

Organized Activity

Law enforcement report a significant number are managed by criminal organizations, who are making money by demanding much less than legitimate operators to accept and dispose of rubbish.

Companies have to pay gate fees to use legitimate landfill sites, contingent on the amount and type of material they are trying to dispose of, and landfill tax is also levied at just over £126 per metric ton.

Public Outrage

Preparation efforts to remove the Kidlington area dump commenced earlier this month due to fears over the risk of blaze and the impact that would have on the nearby major road.

A commercial waste clearance contractor has been granted the job to deal with the site over the next 12 months period at a price of £9.6m.

An enforcement official for the government environment division commented that the authority would be aiming to claim back the remediation expenses under asset recovery legislation from anyone ultimately prosecuted at the termination of its active inquiry.

She noted that this week's arrests would help "drive the probe forward" and permit officials to "investigate more lines of inquiry to ascertain precisely what occurred and who was a party to it".

"This unauthorized dump at Kidlington was an appalling and calculated attack on our environment and the authorities share the local outrage at this egregious crime," she said.

A cabinet representative welcomed the actions, commenting: "The unlawful deposit of rubbish at this location is appalling and has caused considerable detriment to the natural world and distress to the local population.

"Our administration is committed to eradicating this type of illegal activity throughout the country, by augmenting resources to combat waste crime, recruiting more staff and enacting tougher checks and sanctions for those who break the regulations."

The apprehensions were executed on the specified day by personnel from a dedicated organised crime unit and are in addition to an prior arrest of a man in his thirties from the Surrey region in the autumn. He was released subject to further enquiries.