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A pair of individuals have been detained as an element of an inquiry into the tipping of thousands of tonnes of refuse in a open field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Law enforcement reported that a 69-year-old was apprehended at a dwelling in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in the town of Slough in association with the massive pile of garbage tipped near the area of Kidlington.

These detentions follow a recent revelation which exposed the existence of in excess of 500 illegal sites in the country of England, including at minimum 11 so-called "super sites" greater than 20,000 metric tons.

A official for the environment authorities commented that the arrests were for environment-related and proceeds of crime offences and constituted a "vital step" in continuing investigations. The two individuals have been set free on conditional release.

Scale of the Situation

The illegal site in near Kidlington, located between the River Cherwell and the A34, is estimated to contain around 21,000 tonnes of rubbish in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) high.

This heap of waste is consists of what appears to be treated domestic refuse, chopped up plastic items, Styrofoam, tires and assorted domestic items.

It is just one of 517 unlawful tips in England, at minimum 11 of which hold in excess of 20,000 tonnes of rubbish. Such sites feature a 280,000-tonne location in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The overall amount of such larger locations is probably to be greater, as the environmental authority has previously stated it does not possess data on weight for each illegal site.

Most such locations are in countryside settings, frequently out of sight, and on land that is zoned as arable land.

Criminal Activity

Police say numerous are managed by criminal organizations, who are earning cash by asking for much less than legitimate operators to take and dispose of garbage.

Companies have to pay site fees to use lawful landfill sites, based on the quantity and nature of waste they are trying to discard, and landfill tax is also charged at just over £126 per ton.

Local Anger

Initial efforts to clear the Kidlington area site started recently amid concerns over the potential of combustion and the consequences that would have on the close-by major road.

A commercial waste removal contractor has been awarded the task to remediate the site over the following 12 months period at a cost of £9.6m.

An enforcement officer for the government environment team commented that the body would be looking to recover the remediation expenses under confiscation acts from any individual successfully convicted at the conclusion of its ongoing case.

She added that these detentions would help "move the investigation forward" and permit the agency to "investigate more avenues to determine in detail what transpired and who was implicated".

"The illegal dump at this location was an appalling and deliberate assault on our natural surroundings and we empathize with the community's outrage at this terrible offence," she remarked.

A government minister supported the arrests, commenting: "The unlawful deposit of waste at this location is disgraceful and has led to significant harm to the natural world and distress to the nearby population.

"The authorities is pledged to eradicating this category of illegal activity in the country, by augmenting funds to tackle waste crime, employing more staff and implementing stricter controls and penalties for those who break the rules."

The apprehensions were made on Thursday by agents from a specialist crime squad and are in addition to an previous apprehension of a man in his thirties from the Guildford region in November. He was let go subject to more enquiries.