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Two individuals have been arrested as a component of an investigation into the tipping of many thousands of tonnes of refuse in a field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Law enforcement reported that a 69-year-old was apprehended at a residence in Hampshire's Andover, while a 54-year-old was detained in the town of Slough in connection with the massive heap of garbage deposited near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These detentions follow a prior report which exposed the existence of in excess of 500 illegal sites throughout the country of England, featuring at a minimum of 11 so-called "major sites" greater than 20,000 tonnes.

A spokeswoman for the regulatory body said that the apprehensions were for environment-related and money laundering offences and were a "crucial step" in active investigations. The two individuals have been released on conditional release.

Magnitude of the Situation

The illegal site in Kidlington, located between the River Cherwell and the A34 road, is estimated to contain around 21,000 tonnes of waste in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) high.

This pile of garbage is made up of what seems to be sorted domestic waste, chopped up plastic materials, Styrofoam, tyres and various everyday articles.

It is just one example of 517 illegal tips across England, at least 11 of which hold more than 20,000 metric tons of rubbish. These feature a 280,000-tonne area in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The overall number of such major sites is likely to be higher, as the environmental authority has previously acknowledged it does not hold records on tonnage for each unauthorized dump.

The majority sites are in rural locations, typically out of sight, and on land that should be agricultural ground.

Organised Activity

Law enforcement say many are managed by criminal organizations, who are generating cash by asking for significantly less than legitimate operators to take and bury garbage.

Businesses have to pay site fees to use legitimate landfill sites, based 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 Outrage

Preparation efforts to remove the affected location commenced recently following fears over the potential of combustion and the effect that would have on the nearby A-road.

A contracted waste removal company has been granted the contract to remediate the location over the following 12 months period at a expense of £9.6m.

An investigations officer for the government environment division stated that the authority would be looking to recoup the clean-up expenses under confiscation laws from any individual ultimately convicted at the end of its active case.

She added that this week's apprehensions would help "drive the investigation forward" and enable authorities to "follow more lines of inquiry to ascertain exactly what occurred and who was involved".

"This illegal dump at this location was an atrocious and deliberate attack on our environment and we share the community's anger at this terrible offence," she stated.

A government minister welcomed the detentions, commenting: "The unauthorized dumping of waste at Kidlington is appalling and has resulted in substantial detriment to the natural world and distress to the surrounding community.

"The government is committed to stamping out this category of illegal activity across the UK, by boosting financing to address waste crime, hiring more personnel and enacting tougher checks and penalties for those who break the law."

The arrests were executed on a recent Thursday by agents from a dedicated organised crime unit and come after an earlier detention of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area region in last November. He was set free awaiting additional enquiries.