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Two individuals have been taken into custody as a component of an inquiry into the tipping of many thousands of tonnes of refuse in a rural field in Oxfordshire, England.

Officials stated that a man in his late sixties was arrested at a property in Andover, Hampshire, while a 54-year-old was arrested in Slough in association with the massive pile of rubbish deposited near Kidlington.

These detentions come after a previous investigation which uncovered the presence of over 500 unauthorized dumps in England, featuring at minimum 11 so-called "major sites" greater than 20,000 metric tons.

A spokeswoman for the regulatory authorities said that the detentions were for environment-related and proceeds of crime violations and constituted a "key step" in active inquiries. Both men have been set free on pre-trial release.

Scale of the Problem

The illegal site in Kidlington, situated between the river Cherwell and the A34 highway, is estimated to house about 21,000 metric tons of rubbish in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) high.

This heap of rubbish is composed of what looks to be treated residential rubbish, fragmented plastics, expanded polystyrene, automobile tires and various household items.

It constitutes just one example of 517 unlawful tips across England, at least 11 of which hold in excess of 20,000 tons of rubbish. They encompass a 280,000-tonne location in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne site in the county of Kent.

The total number of such major sites is likely to be greater, as the environmental authority has in the past indicated it does not hold information on weight for every unauthorized dump.

The majority sites are in countryside areas, typically out of sight, and on land that is zoned as arable land.

Organized Enterprise

Authorities report many are managed by criminal organizations, who are generating cash by asking for significantly less than licensed firms to accept and landfill garbage.

Companies have to pay gate fees to use lawful disposal sites, depending on the volume and nature of waste they are trying to dispose of, and a disposal levy is also applied at just over £126 per ton.

Local Outrage

Initial work to clear the Kidlington dump began earlier this month following worries over the threat of blaze and the effect that would have on the close-by major road.

A contracted clean-up company has been granted the job to handle the area over the coming 12 months period at a price of £9.6m.

An enforcement official for the national regulatory team stated that the agency would be looking to recoup the clean-up expenses under proceeds of crime laws from anyone ultimately convicted at the termination of its current case.

She noted that these apprehensions would help "move the investigation forward" and allow officials to "pursue more lines of inquiry to determine exactly what happened and who was implicated".

"The unauthorized dump at the site was an shocking and intentional affront on our ecology and officials understand the local frustration at this egregious offence," she said.

A government representative supported the actions, stating: "This illegal tipping of garbage at Kidlington is utterly appalling and has resulted in considerable harm to the natural world and upset to the local residents.

"Our government is dedicated to stamping out this category of crime across the nation, by boosting financing to address waste crime, recruiting more officers and introducing stricter controls and penalties for those who flout the rules."

The apprehensions were carried out on the specified day by officers from a specialist crime team and are in addition to an previous apprehension of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area region in the autumn. He was released subject to further investigations.