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A pair of individuals have been taken into custody as part of an investigation into the illegal deposit of thousands of metric tons of refuse in a field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Law enforcement reported that a 69-year-old was detained at a property in the town of Andover, while a man in his fifties was detained in Slough, Berkshire in relation with the massive heap of waste dumped near the area of Kidlington.

These arrests follow a previous report which exposed the operation of over 500 unauthorized tips in England, encompassing at a minimum of 11 so-called "super sites" greater than 20,000 tons.

A representative for the regulatory authorities commented that the detentions were for ecological and money laundering offences and were a "vital step" in continuing probes. The two individuals have been released on conditional release.

Size of the Situation

The tipping ground in Kidlington, located between the Cherwell River and the A34 road, is estimated to contain around 21,000 tonnes of waste in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) tall.

This pile of garbage is made up of what looks to be processed household refuse, fragmented plastic items, expanded polystyrene, tyres and assorted household items.

It constitutes just one of 517 unlawful tips throughout the country, at least 11 of which are estimated to hold in excess of 20,000 tonnes of garbage. These encompass a 280,000-tonne area in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The total amount of such larger dumps is probably to be higher, as the environment authority has earlier stated it does not maintain data on weight for every unauthorized tip.

The majority such locations are in countryside settings, typically out of sight, and on land that is intended to be farm ground.

Organized Operations

Police state a significant number are operated by organized crime groups, who are generating money by charging much less than legitimate operators to accept and bury garbage.

Companies have to pay disposal fees to use legitimate waste facilities, contingent on the volume and type of waste they are trying to discard, and landfill tax is also levied at just over £126 per metric ton.

Community Frustration

Preparatory operations to remove the Kidlington area site began in recent weeks due to worries over the potential of fire and the effect that would have on the nearby major road.

A contracted waste removal contractor has been granted the task to deal with the site over the following 12 months at a price of £9.6m.

An compliance official for the country's regulatory unit commented that the body would be aiming to recover the clearance expenses under asset recovery laws from any party found guilty at the termination of its ongoing inquiry.

She further stated that these apprehensions would help "move the inquiry forward" and enable officials to "pursue more avenues to understand precisely what occurred and who was a party to it".

"This unauthorized dump at Kidlington was an atrocious and calculated assault on our natural surroundings and officials share the local frustration at this egregious offence," she said.

A senior representative welcomed the actions, adding: "The unauthorized deposit of garbage at Kidlington is utterly appalling and has caused significant harm to the environment and distress to the nearby residents.

"The administration is dedicated to eradicating this kind of criminality throughout the UK, by augmenting funds to combat illegal dumping, employing more personnel and implementing more severe controls and sanctions for those who violate the regulations."

The detentions were executed on Thursday by officers from a specialist organised crime unit and come after an prior arrest of a 39-year-old from the Surrey area in the autumn. He was set free pending additional inquiries.