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A pair of individuals have been taken into custody as an element of an inquiry into the illegal deposit of many thousands of tonnes of refuse in a open field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Authorities stated that a man in his late sixties was arrested at a property in Hampshire's Andover, while a 54-year-old was arrested in Slough in association with the enormous pile of garbage tipped near the area of Kidlington.

These arrests follow a prior investigation which uncovered the existence of over 500 unauthorized dumps throughout England, including at least 11 so-called "major sites" greater than 20,000 tons.

A representative for the environment agency stated that the apprehensions were for ecological and money laundering violations and represented a "vital step" in continuing probes. The two individuals have been let go on pre-trial release.

Magnitude of the Situation

The illegal site in the Kidlington area, situated between the Cherwell River and the A34 highway, is believed to house approximately 21,000 tons of rubbish in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) high.

This mound of garbage is composed of what looks to be processed household rubbish, fragmented plastics, polystyrene, tires and assorted everyday articles.

It is just one of 517 unlawful sites across England, at a minimum of 11 of which are estimated to hold in excess of 20,000 metric tons of rubbish. These feature a 280,000-tonne location in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne site in Kent.

The total number of such major sites is expected to be greater, as the environmental authority has in the past acknowledged it does not hold information on weight for each unauthorized site.

Most such locations are in agricultural areas, typically hidden, and on land that should be arable land.

Criminal Operations

Law enforcement say a significant number are operated by criminal organizations, who are earning cash by charging significantly less than lawful operators to accept and dispose of rubbish.

Companies have to incur site fees to use legitimate disposal sites, contingent on the volume and category of waste they are trying to get rid of, and a disposal levy is also applied at just over £126 per tonne.

Public Frustration

Preparatory efforts to remove the Kidlington dump began recently due to worries over the risk of fire and the effect that would have on the close-by highway.

A private clean-up firm has been awarded the contract to deal with the location over the following 12 months at a cost of £9.6m.

An enforcement officer for the government regulatory team commented that the agency would be looking to claim back the remediation funds under asset recovery laws from any party ultimately found guilty at the conclusion of its active case.

She further stated that these detentions would help "push the inquiry forward" and allow the agency to "pursue more lines of inquiry to determine precisely what occurred and who was a party to it".

"The illegal tip at this location was an atrocious and deliberate assault on our natural surroundings and the authorities empathize with the community's outrage at this egregious offence," she said.

A government minister supported the arrests, commenting: "This unauthorized deposit of rubbish at Kidlington is disgraceful and has resulted in substantial damage to the natural world and upset to the nearby community.

"The government is committed to stamping out this kind of criminality in the country, by increasing funds to address waste crime, hiring more officers and implementing stricter controls and sanctions for those who flout the rules."

The apprehensions were made on Thursday by officers from a specialist crime team and are in addition to an earlier apprehension of a 39-year-old from the Surrey area in the autumn. He was let go pending further investigations.