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Two individuals have been taken into custody as an element of an investigation into the dumping of many thousands of metric tons of rubbish in a rural field in Oxfordshire, England.

Authorities reported that a man in his late sixties was detained at a dwelling in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was arrested in the town of Slough in association with the massive pile of rubbish tipped near Kidlington.

These apprehensions come after a prior investigation which revealed the presence of over 500 unlawful tips in England, encompassing at a minimum of 11 so-called "super sites" larger than 20,000 metric tons.

A representative for the regulatory authorities stated that the arrests were for ecological and money laundering violations and constituted a "key step" in continuing inquiries. The apprehended men have been released on pre-trial release.

Scale of the Situation

The tipping ground in Kidlington, located between the Cherwell River and the A34 highway, is thought to hold approximately 21,000 tons of waste in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) tall.

This heap of garbage is composed of what appears to be treated household waste, shredded plastics, expanded polystyrene, tyres and assorted domestic articles.

It constitutes just one of 517 unlawful tips in the country, at least 11 of which hold more than 20,000 tons of garbage. Such sites feature a 280,000-tonne area in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne site in the county of Kent.

The overall figure of such bigger sites is likely to be higher, as the environmental body has earlier acknowledged it does not hold data on weight for all unauthorized site.

The majority sites are in rural locations, frequently hidden, and on land that is intended to be farm land.

Organised Enterprise

Police say many are operated by organized crime groups, who are generating cash by asking for far less than legitimate operators to receive and landfill garbage.

Companies have to incur disposal fees to use licensed disposal sites, based on the quantity and nature of material they are trying to get rid of, and a waste tax is also levied at just over £126 per ton.

Public Anger

Initial efforts to clear the Kidlington site commenced recently due to concerns over the risk of combustion and the effect that would have on the nearby major road.

A private waste clearance company has been granted the job to remediate the site over the next 12 months at a price of £9.6m.

An enforcement officer for the country's environmental crime division commented that the body would be aiming to claim back the remediation costs under confiscation legislation from anyone successfully prosecuted at the termination of its current investigation.

She further stated that this week's arrests would help "drive the probe forward" and enable the agency to "investigate more avenues to ascertain in detail what transpired and who was a party to it".

"This unlawful dump at the site was an atrocious and intentional affront on our ecology and we understand the local outrage at this egregious act," she stated.

A cabinet minister welcomed the actions, adding: "The unlawful dumping of garbage at Kidlington is disgraceful and has caused substantial harm to the natural world and distress to the local residents.

"The authorities is pledged to eradicating this type of illegal activity in the UK, by augmenting financing to address illegal dumping, employing more officers and implementing stricter measures and sanctions for those who flout the rules."

The detentions were executed on Thursday by officers from a dedicated crime squad and are in addition to an earlier detention of a 39-year-old from the Surrey region in November. He was let go subject to additional investigations.