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Two men have been taken into custody as an element of an investigation into the tipping of several thousand of metric tons of refuse in a open field in Oxfordshire, England.

Law enforcement indicated that a man in his late sixties was arrested at a dwelling in Andover, Hampshire, while a man in his fifties was detained in Slough in relation with the massive mound of waste deposited near the area of Kidlington.

These detentions occur a week after a previous report which revealed the existence of more than 500 unlawful tips across England, including at minimum 11 so-called "major sites" bigger than 20,000 tons.

A official for the environmental authorities stated that the arrests were for ecological and money laundering offences and represented a "key step" in active inquiries. The apprehended men have been released on conditional release.

Scale of the Issue

The illegal site in near Kidlington, situated between the Cherwell River and the A34 highway, is estimated to contain about 21,000 tons of refuse in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) high.

This pile of waste is composed of what seems to be treated domestic waste, shredded plastic materials, Styrofoam, tires and other domestic items.

It is just a single of 517 unlawful dumps throughout England, at least 11 of which are estimated to hold over 20,000 tonnes of waste. These feature a 280,000-tonne location in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire county and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The total number of such major sites is probably to be larger, as the environmental authority has in the past acknowledged it does not possess data on volume for each unlawful tip.

Most these sites are in agricultural settings, typically hidden, and on land that is zoned as arable ground.

Organised Operations

Police state a significant number are managed by criminal organizations, who are making profit by asking for far less than licensed firms to take and landfill garbage.

Businesses have to incur site fees to use licensed waste facilities, based on the quantity and category of refuse they are trying to dispose of, and landfill tax is also levied at just over £126 per tonne.

Community Outrage

Initial efforts to clean up the Kidlington dump commenced earlier this month due to concerns over the risk of blaze and the impact that would have on the nearby major road.

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

An enforcement manager for the country's regulatory team said that the body would be seeking to claim back the clearance funds under asset recovery laws from anyone successfully convicted at the end of its ongoing case.

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

"This unauthorized tip at this location was an atrocious and deliberate affront on our environment and we empathize with the local outrage at this egregious act," she said.

A cabinet minister praised the actions, stating: "This unauthorized dumping of garbage at the site is appalling and has led to considerable harm to the natural world and anguish to the surrounding residents.

"Our administration is pledged to eliminating this kind of criminality throughout the country, by augmenting resources to tackle illegal dumping, recruiting more personnel and introducing more severe checks and penalties for those who violate the law."

The arrests were made on a recent Thursday by officers from a regional serious crime unit and are in addition to an earlier detention of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area area in November. He was let go pending additional enquiries.