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A pair of individuals have been arrested as part of an probe into the dumping of thousands of tonnes of rubbish in a rural field in Oxfordshire, England.

Law enforcement reported that a man in his late sixties was apprehended at a residence in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in the town of Slough in connection with the huge mound of rubbish dumped near the area of Kidlington.

These detentions occur a week after a prior revelation which revealed the presence of over 500 unlawful tips across England, including at minimum 11 so-called "super sites" greater than 20,000 tonnes.

A representative for the environment body commented that the apprehensions were for ecological and financial offences and were a "crucial step" in active inquiries. Both men have been released on conditional release.

Size of the Situation

The illegal site in near Kidlington, positioned between the river Cherwell and the A34, is estimated to house around 21,000 tonnes of rubbish in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) high.

This pile of waste is made up of what seems to be processed domestic rubbish, shredded plastic items, polystyrene, automobile tires and other domestic objects.

It constitutes just one example of 517 unauthorized tips in England, at least 11 of which contain over 20,000 tons of waste. They include a 280,000-tonne area in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne dump in the county of Kent.

The overall number of such major sites is likely to be larger, as the environment agency has previously stated it does not hold data on volume for all illegal dump.

The majority sites are in agricultural locations, typically hidden, and on land that should be farm land.

Criminal Activity

Authorities report numerous are operated by organized crime groups, who are making money by demanding significantly less than lawful companies to receive and landfill garbage.

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

Public Frustration

Preparatory operations to remove the Kidlington area site started earlier this month due to worries over the risk of blaze and the impact that would have on the adjacent A-road.

A contracted waste clearance company has been granted the contract to deal with the area over the following 12 months period at a price of £9.6m.

An investigations official for the government environmental crime unit said that the agency would be seeking to recoup the clearance expenses under asset recovery acts from any individual successfully prosecuted at the termination of its active case.

She noted that these arrests would help "drive the probe forward" and permit authorities to "investigate more avenues to understand precisely what happened and who was implicated".

"This unauthorized tip at this location was an atrocious and calculated affront on our environment and the authorities understand the local outrage at this terrible crime," she stated.

A senior official welcomed the actions, commenting: "The unlawful tipping of garbage at the site is disgraceful and has led to significant damage to the environment and anguish to the nearby population.

"Our government is committed to eliminating this category of crime in the country, by augmenting funds to combat waste crime, employing more personnel and introducing more severe measures and sanctions for those who violate the regulations."

The apprehensions were executed on the specified day by officers from a specialist serious crime team and are in addition to an prior arrest of a man in his thirties from the Guildford region in last November. He was let go pending more inquiries.