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Two men have been arrested as a component of an probe into the illegal deposit of several thousand of tons of refuse in a rural field in Oxfordshire, England.

Law enforcement indicated that a man in his late sixties was apprehended at a residence in Hampshire's Andover, while a man in his fifties was taken into custody in Slough in connection with the enormous mound of garbage dumped near Kidlington.

These detentions follow a prior report which revealed the presence of over 500 unlawful sites in the country of England, encompassing at a minimum of 11 so-called "major sites" greater than 20,000 tons.

A official for the environment authorities said that the apprehensions were for ecological and proceeds of crime offences and constituted a "vital step" in continuing investigations. The apprehended men have been released on conditional release.

Magnitude of the Problem

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

This mound of garbage is consists of what appears to be sorted household refuse, shredded plastics, expanded polystyrene, tyres and various domestic items.

It constitutes just one example of 517 illegal sites throughout England, at least 11 of which hold more than 20,000 tons of waste. These include a 280,000-tonne area in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne site in the county of Kent.

The actual amount of such larger locations is likely to be larger, as the regulatory authority has in the past indicated it does not hold information on volume for all unlawful site.

The majority these sites are in countryside areas, typically hidden, and on land that should be arable land.

Criminal Operations

Authorities say many are run by organized crime groups, who are making money by asking for much less than licensed firms to take and dispose of garbage.

Firms have to be liable for disposal fees to use licensed disposal sites, based on the volume and type of refuse they are trying to discard, and a waste tax is also levied at just over £126 per metric ton.

Public Frustration

Initial efforts to remove the Kidlington area site commenced in recent weeks following fears over the threat of combustion and the impact that would have on the adjacent highway.

A commercial clean-up company has been awarded the contract to handle the area over the following 12 months at a price of £9.6m.

An enforcement officer for the government environmental crime team stated that the agency would be seeking to recoup the clean-up expenses under asset recovery acts from any individual ultimately found guilty at the end of its current inquiry.

She further stated that the recent apprehensions would help "drive the inquiry forward" and enable the agency to "pursue more avenues to understand in detail what happened and who was a party to it".

"This unauthorized dump at Kidlington was an shocking and deliberate attack on our ecology and we understand the local anger at this horrific crime," she stated.

A senior official welcomed the detentions, commenting: "The illegal tipping of waste at Kidlington is disgraceful and has led to significant detriment to the environment and anguish to the surrounding community.

"Our administration is committed to eliminating this category of illegal activity across the UK, by boosting funds to address environmental crime, hiring more officers and implementing stricter controls and penalties for those who break the law."

The arrests were executed on a recent Thursday by officers from a dedicated serious crime team and come after an previous arrest of a 39-year-old from the Guildford region in November. He was set free subject to additional investigations.