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Two individuals have been taken into custody as a component of an probe into the tipping of several thousand of metric tons of rubbish in a open field in Oxfordshire, England.

Officials reported that a man in his late sixties was arrested at a property in Hampshire's Andover, while a 54-year-old was detained in Slough, Berkshire in connection with the enormous pile of waste dumped near the area of Kidlington.

These arrests occur a week after a previous revelation which uncovered the presence of in excess of 500 illegal sites across England, featuring at a minimum of 11 so-called "super sites" larger than 20,000 tonnes.

A representative for the environment agency commented that the arrests were for environment-related and financial offences and constituted a "key step" in ongoing inquiries. The apprehended men have been let go on bail.

Scale of the Situation

The illegal site in near Kidlington, positioned between the river Cherwell and the A34 highway, is believed to house approximately 21,000 metric tons of rubbish in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) high.

This mound of waste is made up of what looks to be treated residential waste, chopped up plastic items, Styrofoam, tires and various domestic items.

It is just one example of 517 unlawful sites in England, at a minimum of 11 of which contain in excess of 20,000 tons of garbage. These include 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 dumps is expected to be larger, as the environmental authority has previously indicated it does not hold information on tonnage for all unlawful tip.

A large proportion of sites are in rural areas, often hidden, and on land that is intended to be farm land.

Organised Enterprise

Law enforcement state a significant number are managed by organized crime groups, who are making profit by charging much less than licensed companies to accept and landfill garbage.

Companies have to be liable for site fees to use licensed landfill sites, based on the volume and nature of waste they are trying to discard, and landfill tax is also applied at just over £126 per tonne.

Community Anger

Initial efforts to clean up the Kidlington area dump started recently amid worries over the potential of fire and the impact that would have on the adjacent A-road.

A contracted clean-up contractor has been given the contract to deal with the area over the next 12 months period at a price of £9.6m.

An investigations official for the national environment unit commented that the agency would be seeking to claim back the remediation funds under confiscation acts from anyone successfully prosecuted at the termination of its ongoing investigation.

She further stated that these apprehensions would help "move the investigation forward" and enable authorities to "follow more lines of inquiry to determine exactly what transpired and who was implicated".

"The unlawful tip at Kidlington was an atrocious and calculated attack on our environment and officials empathize with the local anger at this horrific crime," she stated.

A cabinet representative praised the arrests, stating: "This unlawful deposit of garbage at the site is appalling and has resulted in substantial detriment to the ecology and distress to the surrounding residents.

"Our authorities is dedicated to eliminating this type of illegal activity in the nation, by augmenting financing to combat environmental crime, recruiting more personnel and implementing more severe controls and penalties for those who break the rules."

The apprehensions were carried out on the specified day by officers from a dedicated serious crime unit and are in addition to an previous arrest of a 39-year-old from the Surrey area in last November. He was let go awaiting more inquiries.