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Two individuals have been detained as part of an inquiry into the illegal deposit of many thousands of tons of waste in a open field in Oxfordshire, England.

Authorities indicated that a man in his late sixties was apprehended at a residence in Hampshire's Andover, while a man in his fifties was arrested in Slough, Berkshire in association with the enormous mound of garbage deposited near the area of Kidlington.

These detentions occur a week after a prior revelation which exposed the existence of more than 500 unauthorized tips throughout the country of England, featuring at least 11 so-called "large-scale sites" greater than 20,000 tonnes.

A official for the environment body commented that the apprehensions were for ecological and proceeds of crime crimes and represented a "key step" in active investigations. Both men have been released on bail.

Scale of the Issue

The tipping ground in near Kidlington, located between the Cherwell River and the A34 road, is thought to house around 21,000 metric tons of rubbish in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) tall.

This mound of rubbish is consists of what seems to be processed domestic refuse, chopped up plastics, polystyrene, automobile tires and various household items.

It constitutes just one of 517 unauthorized dumps across the country, at least 11 of which are estimated to hold in excess of 20,000 metric tons of rubbish. Such sites include a 280,000-tonne location in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The overall figure of such bigger dumps is likely to be higher, as the environment authority has previously acknowledged it does not possess records on weight for each illegal dump.

The majority such locations are in agricultural locations, frequently out of sight, and on land that is zoned as farm property.

Organised Activity

Police report many are run by organized crime groups, who are making money by demanding far less than licensed firms to receive and landfill waste.

Firms have to pay disposal fees to use legitimate landfill sites, contingent on the volume and type of material they are trying to discard, and a waste tax is also charged at just over £126 per tonne.

Community Anger

Preparatory work to remove the Kidlington area site began in recent weeks amid worries over the risk of fire and the effect that would have on the close-by A-road.

A contracted waste clearance company has been given the contract to handle the area over the following 12 months period at a cost of £9.6m.

An enforcement officer for the country's environmental crime team stated that the body would be aiming to claim back the remediation expenses under asset recovery acts from any party successfully found guilty at the termination of its active inquiry.

She further stated that this week's arrests would help "drive the probe forward" and permit authorities to "investigate more leads to ascertain in detail what transpired and who was a party to it".

"The unlawful dump at this location was an atrocious and intentional affront on our natural surroundings and officials empathize with the public's anger at this egregious act," she remarked.

A cabinet representative supported the arrests, commenting: "The illegal dumping of rubbish at Kidlington is appalling and has caused considerable harm to the ecology and upset to the local community.

"Our government is pledged to stamping out this category of criminality across the nation, by augmenting funds to combat waste crime, employing more staff and introducing stricter checks and penalties for those who flout the rules."

The arrests were carried out on a recent Thursday by officers from a dedicated crime team and are in addition to an prior arrest of a 39-year-old from the Surrey area in November. He was set free pending more inquiries.