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Two men have been arrested as an element of an probe into the tipping of many thousands of tons of waste in a field in Oxfordshire, England.

Officials stated that a 69-year-old was detained at a residence in the town of Andover, while a man in his fifties was detained in Slough, Berkshire in connection with the enormous pile of garbage dumped near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These arrests follow a prior investigation which revealed the presence of more than 500 unlawful sites throughout England, including at minimum 11 so-called "large-scale sites" bigger than 20,000 tonnes.

A official for the regulatory body stated that the apprehensions were for environmental and money laundering violations and constituted a "key step" in active probes. The apprehended men have been let go on conditional release.

Size of the Problem

The illegal site in Kidlington, positioned between the River Cherwell and the A34 road, is thought to contain about 21,000 tons of rubbish in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) in height.

This mound of garbage is composed of what seems to be processed domestic rubbish, fragmented plastics, Styrofoam, tyres and assorted household articles.

It is just one example of 517 illegal dumps in the country, at least 11 of which are estimated to hold more than 20,000 tons of waste. Such sites feature a 280,000-tonne location in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The actual number of such larger sites is probably to be greater, as the environment agency has previously indicated it does not possess information on tonnage for every unlawful site.

A large proportion of such locations are in agricultural locations, frequently hidden, and on land that should be arable land.

Criminal Enterprise

Law enforcement state many are run by organized crime groups, who are earning cash by asking for far less than legitimate operators to accept and bury garbage.

Businesses have to pay disposal fees to use lawful landfill sites, contingent on the amount and nature of waste they are trying to dispose of, and a disposal levy is also charged at just over £126 per ton.

Public Frustration

Preparation operations to remove the Kidlington area dump commenced in recent weeks due to fears over the risk of fire and the effect that would have on the close-by A-road.

A private clean-up company has been granted the job to deal with the site over the following 12 months period at a cost of £9.6m.

An compliance officer for the national environmental crime team stated that the authority would be looking to claim back the clearance costs under proceeds of crime laws from any party ultimately prosecuted at the conclusion of its current case.

She further stated that this week's detentions would help "drive the inquiry forward" and allow the agency to "investigate more lines of inquiry to determine exactly what occurred and who was a party to it".

"This unauthorized dump at Kidlington was an shocking and calculated affront on our ecology and we understand the public's outrage at this egregious offence," she stated.

A cabinet minister praised the detentions, adding: "The illegal deposit of garbage at Kidlington is utterly appalling and has caused significant harm to the ecology and upset to the surrounding residents.

"The government is committed to eradicating this category of illegal activity across the country, by augmenting financing to tackle environmental crime, hiring more staff and introducing more severe measures and penalties for those who violate the rules."

The detentions were executed on Thursday by personnel from a regional crime unit and are in addition to an prior arrest of a 39-year-old from the Guildford region in the autumn. He was set free pending further inquiries.