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Two individuals have been detained as an element of an inquiry into the dumping of many thousands of tons of waste in a field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Authorities reported that a man in his late sixties was detained at a property in Andover, Hampshire, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in the town of Slough in relation with the massive mound of waste deposited near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These apprehensions follow a previous report which exposed the existence of over 500 unauthorized tips in England, including at minimum 11 so-called "super sites" greater than 20,000 metric tons.

A spokeswoman for the environment agency said that the detentions were for ecological and money laundering crimes and constituted a "key step" in ongoing investigations. The two individuals have been set free on conditional release.

Magnitude of the Issue

The dump in the Kidlington area, situated between the River Cherwell and the A34, is thought to contain about 21,000 metric tons of refuse in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) in height.

This heap of garbage is consists of what looks to be processed residential rubbish, fragmented plastics, polystyrene, automobile tires and other household articles.

It constitutes just a single of 517 unauthorized sites in the country, at minimum 11 of which are estimated to hold in excess of 20,000 tonnes of rubbish. They feature a 280,000-tonne area in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in the county of Kent.

The overall number of such larger sites is likely to be higher, as the regulatory agency has previously acknowledged it does not maintain data on tonnage for each unauthorized dump.

Most such locations are in countryside areas, frequently concealed, and on land that is zoned as agricultural ground.

Organised Activity

Police say many are operated by organised crime gangs, who are earning money by charging much less than legitimate operators to take and landfill rubbish.

Businesses have to pay gate fees to use licensed landfill sites, contingent on the volume and type of material they are trying to get rid of, and a disposal levy is also applied at just over £126 per metric ton.

Local Frustration

Initial operations to remove the affected location commenced recently due to fears over the potential of combustion and the effect that would have on the nearby major road.

A contracted clean-up company has been given the contract to deal with the location over the following 12 months at a expense of £9.6m.

An enforcement official for the government regulatory division said that the authority would be seeking to recoup the remediation expenses under proceeds of crime acts from anyone ultimately convicted at the end of its current case.

She further stated that this week's detentions would help "drive the probe forward" and allow the agency to "pursue more lines of inquiry to ascertain in detail what occurred and who was involved".

"This unauthorized site at the site was an shocking and calculated attack on our ecology and we understand the public's frustration at this egregious act," she said.

A cabinet minister praised the arrests, commenting: "This unlawful tipping of waste at the site is appalling and has caused considerable detriment to the environment and distress to the surrounding population.

"Our authorities is dedicated to stamping out this kind of criminality in the nation, by increasing financing to tackle illegal dumping, recruiting more personnel and implementing tougher controls and penalties for those who break the rules."

The arrests were carried out on a recent Thursday by personnel from a regional crime team and are in addition to an previous arrest of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area in November. He was set free subject to additional inquiries.