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Two individuals have been detained as a component of an inquiry into the dumping of thousands of metric tons of waste in a open field in Oxfordshire, England.

Officials stated that a man in his late sixties was detained at a residence in Andover, Hampshire, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in the town of Slough in relation with the enormous pile of garbage deposited near Kidlington.

These arrests follow a previous revelation which uncovered the presence of more than 500 illegal tips throughout England, featuring at minimum 11 so-called "major sites" larger than 20,000 tons.

A representative for the environment body commented that the arrests were for ecological and money laundering violations and represented a "crucial step" in continuing probes. The apprehended men have been set free on bail.

Scale of the Problem

The tipping ground in near Kidlington, situated between the River Cherwell and the A34, is estimated to contain around 21,000 metric tons of refuse in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) in height.

This heap of garbage is consists of what appears to be sorted residential refuse, fragmented plastic materials, polystyrene, automobile tires and other domestic items.

It constitutes just a single of 517 illegal sites across the country, at minimum 11 of which hold more than 20,000 tons of rubbish. Such sites include a 280,000-tonne location in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in the county of Kent.

The overall number of such larger locations is likely to be greater, as the regulatory body has earlier acknowledged it does not maintain information on tonnage for each unauthorized tip.

A large proportion of such locations are in rural settings, often hidden, and on land that is zoned as farm property.

Criminal Activity

Police state a significant number are operated by organized crime groups, who are earning cash by demanding far less than lawful firms to accept and landfill rubbish.

Businesses have to incur disposal fees to use lawful disposal sites, contingent on the quantity and type of refuse they are trying to discard, and landfill tax is also charged at just over £126 per metric ton.

Public Outrage

Preparation operations to clean up the Kidlington area location commenced earlier this month following concerns over the potential of fire and the impact that would have on the nearby highway.

A contracted waste clearance contractor has been given the task to remediate the area over the next 12 months at a price of £9.6m.

An compliance official for the national regulatory unit commented that the agency would be aiming to recover the remediation costs under proceeds of crime legislation from anyone convicted at the termination of its active inquiry.

She added that this week's arrests would help "drive the investigation forward" and allow the agency to "investigate more avenues to understand in detail what transpired and who was involved".

"This illegal site at the site was an appalling and intentional attack on our ecology and we share the community's anger at this horrific crime," she stated.

A senior minister praised the actions, commenting: "This illegal deposit of waste at Kidlington is disgraceful and has led to substantial harm to the ecology and distress to the surrounding population.

"Our government is committed to eradicating this category of illegal activity in the UK, by increasing funds to combat environmental crime, employing more staff and introducing more severe checks and penalties for those who violate the regulations."

The apprehensions were made on Thursday by officers from a specialist crime squad and come after an previous apprehension of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area area in November. He was set free subject to additional investigations.