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

Law enforcement stated that a 69-year-old was apprehended at a residence in the town of Andover, while a man in his fifties was taken into custody in Slough, Berkshire in association with the huge pile of garbage tipped near the area of Kidlington.

These arrests follow a prior investigation which uncovered the operation of more than 500 illegal sites in England, including at minimum 11 so-called "super sites" larger than 20,000 tonnes.

A spokeswoman for the regulatory agency commented that the detentions were for environment-related and money laundering violations and represented a "vital step" in active inquiries. The two individuals have been let go on conditional release.

Size of the Issue

The dump in Kidlington, positioned between the Cherwell River and the A34, is thought to contain around 21,000 metric tons of refuse in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) tall.

This pile of garbage is consists of what appears to be processed household rubbish, chopped up plastic materials, Styrofoam, tyres and assorted household articles.

It constitutes just a single of 517 illegal tips in England, at minimum 11 of which hold over 20,000 tons of waste. They feature a 280,000-tonne site in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in the county of Kent.

The actual number of such larger locations is likely to be larger, as the environmental authority has earlier acknowledged it does not possess records on weight for every unlawful site.

The majority these sites are in countryside areas, typically hidden, and on land that is zoned as agricultural property.

Criminal Enterprise

Law enforcement report many are managed by organised crime gangs, who are earning money by charging much less than lawful companies to accept and dispose of waste.

Companies have to be liable for site fees to use legitimate waste facilities, based on the quantity and category of material they are trying to discard, and landfill tax is also charged at just over £126 per metric ton.

Public Anger

Initial operations to clean up the Kidlington site started in recent weeks following concerns over the potential of fire and the impact that would have on the nearby A-road.

A contracted waste removal contractor has been granted the contract to deal with the site over the next 12 months at a cost of £9.6m.

An enforcement manager for the country's environment division said that the agency would be seeking to recover the remediation costs under asset recovery laws from any party convicted at the termination of its ongoing investigation.

She noted that this week's arrests would help "push the probe forward" and enable officials to "follow more lines of inquiry to ascertain precisely what transpired and who was involved".

"This illegal dump at this location was an appalling and intentional attack on our environment and officials understand the community's frustration at this horrific act," she said.

A senior representative welcomed the arrests, stating: "The unauthorized tipping of garbage at Kidlington is disgraceful and has resulted in considerable harm to the natural world and upset to the surrounding community.

"The administration is dedicated to eliminating this kind of illegal activity in the country, by increasing resources to address illegal dumping, hiring more personnel and implementing tougher checks and penalties for those who flout the regulations."

The apprehensions were made on Thursday by personnel from a regional organised crime team and come after an earlier detention of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area region in last November. He was let go subject to additional enquiries.