Detentions Made in Connection to Enormous Illegal Landfill

Two men have been detained as an element of an investigation into the dumping of several thousand of tonnes of rubbish in a open field in Oxfordshire, England.

Authorities indicated that a man in his late sixties was arrested at a property in Andover, Hampshire, while a man in his fifties was taken into custody in the town of Slough in relation with the enormous mound of garbage dumped near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These apprehensions come after a prior report which revealed the existence of more than 500 illegal sites throughout England, encompassing at a minimum of 11 so-called "large-scale sites" bigger than 20,000 tons.

A spokeswoman for the environment agency said that the detentions were for ecological and proceeds of crime violations and represented a "key step" in continuing probes. Both men have been released on bail.

Magnitude of the Problem

The illegal site in near Kidlington, positioned between the River Cherwell and the A34, is believed to house about 21,000 metric tons of refuse in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) high.

This pile of garbage is composed of what seems to be processed household rubbish, chopped up plastic items, polystyrene, tyres and other household articles.

It represents just one example of 517 unauthorized dumps across the country, at least 11 of which contain more than 20,000 tons of rubbish. They include a 280,000-tonne location in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The actual amount of such major locations is probably to be larger, as the regulatory agency has earlier stated it does not possess records on volume for each unlawful site.

Most these sites are in rural locations, typically hidden, and on land that should be arable ground.

Criminal Enterprise

Law enforcement state numerous are run by organized crime groups, who are making cash by asking for significantly less than lawful companies to accept and landfill rubbish.

Companies have to pay gate fees to use lawful waste facilities, contingent on the amount and category of waste they are trying to get rid of, and a waste tax is also applied at just over £126 per metric ton.

Public Outrage

Preparatory operations to remove the Kidlington area site commenced earlier this month following fears over the threat of fire and the effect that would have on the close-by highway.

A commercial waste removal firm has been granted the contract to handle the location over the following 12 months period at a price of £9.6m.

An compliance manager for the government regulatory team said that the agency would be aiming to claim back the clearance expenses under asset recovery legislation from any party convicted at the termination of its active case.

She further stated that this week's detentions would help "move the investigation forward" and allow authorities to "investigate more lines of inquiry to ascertain exactly what happened and who was a party to it".

"The unauthorized tip at this location was an shocking and calculated assault on our ecology and we share the public's anger at this egregious crime," she remarked.

A government official welcomed the arrests, adding: "This unlawful dumping of rubbish at Kidlington is utterly appalling and has led to significant damage to the ecology and anguish to the nearby population.

"Our administration is committed to eradicating this type of crime throughout the country, by increasing financing to address environmental crime, hiring more personnel and enacting more severe measures and fines for those who break the law."

The detentions were made on Thursday by personnel from a specialist serious crime team and come after an previous detention of a 39-year-old from the Surrey region in November. He was released awaiting further investigations.