Arrests Made in Relation to Enormous Unauthorized Landfill

Two individuals have been arrested as an element of an inquiry into the dumping of many thousands of tons of refuse in a field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Authorities reported that a man in his late sixties was arrested at a dwelling in Hampshire's Andover, while a 54-year-old was detained in Slough in association with the massive mound of garbage dumped near the area of Kidlington.

These apprehensions follow a recent revelation which exposed the presence of in excess of 500 illegal sites throughout the country of England, featuring at a minimum of 11 so-called "super sites" bigger than 20,000 tonnes.

A spokeswoman for the environmental agency said that the arrests were for environmental and money laundering crimes and were a "key step" in ongoing inquiries. Both men have been let go on bail.

Size of the Issue

The dump in Kidlington, positioned between the river Cherwell and the A34 highway, is estimated to house approximately 21,000 metric tons of rubbish in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) tall.

This pile of waste is made up of what appears to be sorted residential rubbish, fragmented plastic items, Styrofoam, tires and other everyday items.

It constitutes just one of 517 illegal sites throughout the country, at least 11 of which hold in excess of 20,000 tonnes of garbage. Such sites encompass a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The overall amount of such larger locations is probably to be larger, as the regulatory body has in the past stated it does not hold records on volume for all unlawful site.

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

Organized Operations

Law enforcement say many are managed by criminal organizations, who are earning cash by demanding far less than lawful operators to receive and bury garbage.

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

Community Outrage

Preparation operations to clean up the Kidlington site started in recent weeks amid concerns over the risk of blaze and the effect that would have on the adjacent A-road.

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

An enforcement manager for the government environment division commented that the agency would be seeking to recoup the remediation expenses under asset recovery acts from anyone prosecuted at the end of its ongoing investigation.

She further stated that these detentions would help "push the inquiry forward" and enable officials to "investigate more leads to determine precisely what happened and who was involved".

"This unlawful site at Kidlington was an shocking and calculated attack on our ecology and officials empathize with the public's frustration at this egregious offence," she stated.

A cabinet official praised the arrests, commenting: "The unlawful dumping of waste at Kidlington is appalling and has led to substantial detriment to the environment and anguish to the surrounding population.

"The administration is committed to eradicating this kind of illegal activity across the country, by boosting funds to combat environmental crime, recruiting more staff and enacting stricter controls and sanctions for those who flout the regulations."

The detentions were made on Thursday by officers from a regional serious crime unit and follow an previous apprehension of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area area in last November. He was released pending further investigations.