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Two individuals have been detained as part of an inquiry into the illegal deposit of several thousand of metric tons of refuse in a rural field in Oxfordshire, England.

Officials indicated that a 69-year-old was arrested at a property in the town of Andover, while a man in his fifties was detained in Slough in connection with the huge pile of garbage deposited near the area of Kidlington.

These apprehensions occur a week after a prior revelation which uncovered the presence of more than 500 unlawful sites in the country of England, encompassing at a minimum of 11 so-called "super sites" greater than 20,000 metric tons.

A spokeswoman for the regulatory authorities said that the arrests were for environmental and financial violations and constituted a "vital step" in continuing investigations. The apprehended men have been released on pre-trial release.

Scale of the Situation

The dump in near Kidlington, located between the River Cherwell and the A34 highway, is thought to house about 21,000 tonnes of waste in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) high.

This mound of garbage is made up of what looks to be processed household refuse, chopped up plastic items, expanded polystyrene, automobile tires and assorted household articles.

It is just one example of 517 unlawful dumps in England, at least 11 of which hold in excess of 20,000 tonnes of rubbish. These encompass a 280,000-tonne site in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne site in Kent.

The overall amount of such bigger locations is expected to be greater, as the regulatory agency has previously stated it does not possess records on volume for all illegal tip.

Most such locations are in rural locations, often concealed, and on land that is zoned as agricultural land.

Criminal Activity

Police state numerous are operated by organized crime groups, who are making money by asking for significantly less than lawful companies to accept and bury garbage.

Companies have to be liable for disposal fees to use legitimate landfill sites, depending on the quantity and nature of refuse they are trying to dispose of, and a disposal levy is also charged at just over £126 per tonne.

Public Outrage

Preparation operations to clean up the Kidlington area location commenced in recent weeks due to worries over the threat of combustion and the impact that would have on the nearby major road.

A contracted waste clearance contractor has been given the contract to deal with the location over the next 12 months period at a cost of £9.6m.

An investigations official for the national environmental crime division said that the body would be aiming to recover the clean-up costs under proceeds of crime acts from anyone ultimately prosecuted at the end of its active investigation.

She added that these detentions would help "push the inquiry forward" and enable officials to "pursue more avenues to determine precisely what transpired and who was implicated".

"This unauthorized dump at the site was an atrocious and calculated attack on our environment and we share the public's outrage at this terrible crime," she stated.

A senior official supported the detentions, commenting: "The unlawful tipping of waste at the site is appalling and has caused considerable damage to the environment and anguish to the nearby population.

"Our administration is committed to eradicating this type of illegal activity across the nation, by boosting financing to address illegal dumping, hiring more officers and introducing more severe controls and sanctions for those who flout the law."

The detentions were made on the specified day by officers from a specialist serious crime team and follow an prior detention of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area area in last November. He was let go pending more investigations.