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A pair of individuals have been arrested as part of an inquiry into the dumping of several thousand of metric tons of rubbish in a open field in Oxfordshire, England.

Officials indicated that a 69-year-old was detained at a dwelling in the town of Andover, while a man in his fifties was arrested in Slough in connection with the huge heap of garbage deposited near Kidlington.

These apprehensions follow a previous investigation which uncovered the operation of more than 500 unlawful tips in the country of England, encompassing at a minimum of 11 so-called "super sites" greater than 20,000 tons.

A spokeswoman for the environment agency commented that the arrests were for ecological and proceeds of crime violations and represented a "crucial step" in continuing investigations. The two individuals have been let go on conditional release.

Scale of the Problem

The illegal site in near Kidlington, located between the Cherwell River and the A34, is believed to house approximately 21,000 metric tons of rubbish in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) tall.

This pile of rubbish is made up of what seems to be sorted residential refuse, chopped up plastics, expanded polystyrene, tyres and other household articles.

It represents just one of 517 illegal tips throughout England, at a minimum of 11 of which are estimated to hold more than 20,000 metric tons of waste. These include a 280,000-tonne location in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne site in Kent.

The actual figure of such bigger locations is probably to be larger, as the environmental agency has earlier acknowledged it does not possess information on tonnage for each unauthorized site.

The majority sites are in countryside areas, often hidden, and on land that is intended to be arable ground.

Organised Activity

Authorities report a significant number are operated by criminal organizations, who are earning profit by demanding much less than legitimate companies to receive and landfill waste.

Firms have to pay gate fees to use licensed waste facilities, contingent on the quantity and type of refuse they are trying to dispose of, and a disposal levy is also applied at just over £126 per ton.

Public Outrage

Preparation efforts to clean up the Kidlington area location started in recent weeks due to worries over the threat of blaze and the consequences that would have on the adjacent highway.

A contracted clean-up company has been awarded the task to remediate the site over the following 12 months period at a expense of £9.6m.

An enforcement officer for the country's environmental crime division said that the body would be aiming to recover the clearance expenses under asset recovery laws from anyone ultimately convicted at the termination of its active investigation.

She further stated that this week's detentions would help "push the inquiry forward" and allow authorities to "follow more leads to understand in detail what occurred and who was involved".

"The illegal site at the site was an appalling and deliberate assault on our environment and we share the public's outrage at this egregious act," she remarked.

A cabinet representative welcomed the actions, commenting: "This illegal tipping of garbage at the site is utterly appalling and has caused significant harm to the natural world and distress to the local community.

"Our administration is dedicated to eliminating this category of criminality throughout the country, by boosting financing to address illegal dumping, employing more personnel and implementing stricter checks and sanctions for those who flout the regulations."

The apprehensions were executed on Thursday by personnel from a specialist serious crime unit and come after an prior apprehension of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area in November. He was released pending additional investigations.