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Two individuals have been taken into custody as an element of an inquiry into the dumping of several thousand of tonnes of waste in a field in Oxfordshire.

Law enforcement indicated that a 69-year-old was arrested at a dwelling in Andover, Hampshire, while a man in his fifties was taken into custody in Slough, Berkshire in association with the enormous heap of garbage deposited near the area of Kidlington.

These detentions occur a week after a previous report which exposed the existence of more than 500 unauthorized sites across England, featuring at minimum 11 so-called "super sites" greater than 20,000 tons.

A spokeswoman for the environment authorities said that the detentions were for environmental and money laundering crimes and constituted a "key step" in continuing inquiries. The two individuals have been let go on conditional release.

Size of the Issue

The illegal site in Kidlington, situated between the Cherwell River and the A34, is believed to contain about 21,000 tons of waste in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) in height.

This heap of garbage is consists of what seems to be sorted residential rubbish, chopped up plastic materials, polystyrene, tyres and assorted household items.

It constitutes just a single of 517 illegal sites across England, at minimum 11 of which contain more than 20,000 metric tons of rubbish. They feature a 280,000-tonne location in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne site in Kent.

The total amount of such larger dumps is expected to be larger, as the regulatory authority has earlier stated it does not possess information on volume for each illegal dump.

The majority these sites are in rural locations, typically hidden, and on land that should be agricultural land.

Organised Activity

Authorities report numerous are operated by organized crime groups, who are earning money by charging much less than lawful operators to receive and dispose of waste.

Businesses have to pay gate fees to use licensed landfill sites, contingent on the amount and category of waste they are trying to discard, and landfill tax is also applied at just over £126 per ton.

Local Outrage

Preparatory operations to clear the affected site began recently due to worries over the threat of combustion and the impact that would have on the close-by A-road.

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

An enforcement official for the country's regulatory division said that the body would be seeking to claim back the remediation costs under confiscation laws from anyone ultimately found guilty at the termination of its ongoing investigation.

She further stated that the recent detentions would help "drive the probe forward" and permit authorities to "pursue more avenues to ascertain in detail what occurred and who was a party to it".

"The unauthorized dump at the site was an appalling and deliberate assault on our natural surroundings and the authorities empathize with the local anger at this horrific act," she said.

A government representative praised the arrests, commenting: "The illegal deposit of rubbish at Kidlington is appalling and has caused significant damage to the natural world and distress to the surrounding residents.

"Our authorities is pledged to eradicating this kind of criminality in the nation, by increasing resources to combat environmental crime, hiring more staff and implementing more severe checks and sanctions for those who break the regulations."

The detentions were made on Thursday by agents from a dedicated serious crime team and come after an earlier arrest of a 39-year-old from the Guildford region in the autumn. He was set free awaiting more inquiries.