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A pair of individuals have been taken into custody as part of an investigation into the illegal deposit of many thousands of tonnes of waste in a rural field in Oxfordshire, England.

Authorities indicated that a man in his late sixties was detained at a property in Andover, Hampshire, while a 54-year-old was detained in the town of Slough in association with the huge pile of garbage deposited near Kidlington.

These detentions occur a week after a prior revelation which uncovered the operation of more than 500 unauthorized sites in the country of England, encompassing at minimum 11 so-called "super sites" bigger than 20,000 tons.

A official for the regulatory agency stated that the detentions were for ecological and financial violations and constituted a "vital step" in continuing probes. Both men have been set free on bail.

Scale of the Issue

The tipping ground in the Kidlington area, located between the Cherwell River and the A34 highway, is thought to hold approximately 21,000 tons of rubbish in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) high.

This heap of rubbish is made up of what appears to be treated household refuse, fragmented plastic items, Styrofoam, tires and various domestic articles.

It represents just one example of 517 unlawful sites across England, at minimum 11 of which are estimated to hold in excess of 20,000 metric tons of waste. These feature a 280,000-tonne location in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne site in the county of Kent.

The overall number of such major locations is likely to be larger, as the regulatory authority has in the past indicated it does not possess data on volume for every illegal site.

A large proportion of sites are in agricultural locations, typically concealed, and on land that is intended to be agricultural property.

Organized Activity

Authorities say a significant number are operated by organised crime gangs, who are making profit by charging much less than licensed companies to take and bury waste.

Firms have to incur gate fees to use legitimate disposal sites, based on the quantity and type of waste they are trying to discard, and landfill tax is also charged at just over £126 per tonne.

Local Outrage

Preparatory operations to clean up the Kidlington area dump started recently due to concerns over the risk of fire and the consequences that would have on the close-by highway.

A commercial clean-up company has been awarded the contract to remediate the location over the coming 12 months period at a price of £9.6m.

An compliance official for the country's environment unit commented that the authority would be seeking to recover the clearance costs under asset recovery legislation from any individual successfully convicted at the end of its ongoing inquiry.

She noted that these apprehensions would help "push the investigation forward" and permit the agency to "investigate more leads to understand in detail what happened and who was a party to it".

"The unlawful site at Kidlington was an shocking and deliberate affront on our natural surroundings and the authorities share the local frustration at this terrible crime," she said.

A senior official praised the arrests, commenting: "This illegal tipping of rubbish at Kidlington is disgraceful and has caused substantial harm to the ecology and upset to the nearby residents.

"Our authorities is pledged to eradicating this category of criminality across the nation, by boosting financing to address waste crime, recruiting more staff and enacting tougher measures and sanctions for those who violate the rules."

The apprehensions were made on the specified day by personnel from a regional organised crime squad and are in addition to an previous detention of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area in November. He was let go subject to further enquiries.