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Two individuals have been taken into custody as part of an investigation into the tipping of several thousand of tonnes of refuse in a rural field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Authorities indicated that a 69-year-old was detained at a residence in Hampshire's Andover, while a 54-year-old was arrested in Slough, Berkshire in association with the massive pile of rubbish dumped near the area of Kidlington.

These detentions follow a prior revelation which exposed the operation of more than 500 unauthorized dumps across England, featuring at least 11 so-called "large-scale sites" greater than 20,000 tons.

A representative for the regulatory authorities stated that the arrests were for ecological and money laundering offences and represented a "key step" in active investigations. The apprehended men have been set free on bail.

Magnitude of the Problem

The dump in near Kidlington, situated between the river Cherwell and the A34 road, is estimated to hold about 21,000 metric tons of refuse in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) tall.

This mound of waste is consists of what seems to be treated residential waste, chopped up plastic items, Styrofoam, automobile tires and assorted domestic articles.

It is just a single of 517 unauthorized tips in England, at minimum 11 of which hold over 20,000 metric tons of waste. These encompass a 280,000-tonne site in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in the county of Kent.

The overall amount of such bigger dumps is expected to be higher, as the environmental authority has earlier indicated it does not possess information on tonnage for every illegal tip.

A large proportion of sites are in rural areas, often hidden, and on land that should be farm property.

Criminal Enterprise

Law enforcement report numerous are managed by organized crime groups, who are generating profit by demanding significantly less than lawful companies to receive and landfill waste.

Companies have to be liable for site fees to use lawful waste facilities, contingent on the quantity and category of waste they are trying to get rid of, and a disposal levy is also applied at just over £126 per metric ton.

Local Frustration

Preparation operations to remove the Kidlington area location commenced in recent weeks amid fears over the potential of combustion and the consequences that would have on the close-by highway.

A contracted waste removal company has been granted the task to deal with the location over the coming 12 months at a price of £9.6m.

An enforcement manager for the country's environment unit said that the body would be seeking to claim back the clean-up funds under proceeds of crime acts from anyone found guilty at the end of its current inquiry.

She added that this week's detentions would help "push the probe forward" and allow authorities to "investigate more avenues to ascertain precisely what occurred and who was involved".

"The unlawful site at Kidlington was an atrocious and deliberate assault on our ecology and officials share the public's anger at this horrific act," she remarked.

A senior official praised the detentions, stating: "This unlawful dumping of waste at Kidlington is disgraceful and has led to considerable harm to the environment and anguish to the local community.

"The administration is committed to eliminating this type of criminality throughout the UK, by increasing financing to tackle illegal dumping, employing more personnel and implementing tougher controls and penalties for those who violate the law."

The apprehensions were carried out on a recent Thursday by agents from a dedicated crime unit and are in addition to an earlier detention of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area area in last November. He was set free awaiting additional investigations.