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Two men have been taken into custody as part of an inquiry into the illegal deposit of many thousands of tonnes of waste in a field in Oxfordshire, England.

Law enforcement indicated that a man in his late sixties was detained at a dwelling in Hampshire's Andover, while a 54-year-old was arrested in the town of Slough in association with the massive heap of rubbish tipped near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These arrests follow a prior investigation which exposed the existence of more than 500 unauthorized dumps throughout the country of England, featuring at a minimum of 11 so-called "major sites" bigger than 20,000 metric tons.

A spokeswoman for the environmental body stated that the apprehensions were for environment-related and money laundering offences and constituted a "key step" in ongoing investigations. The apprehended men have been set free on pre-trial release.

Size of the Situation

The dump in the Kidlington area, situated between the Cherwell River and the A34 highway, is thought to contain about 21,000 tons of waste in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) high.

This heap of rubbish is made up of what looks to be sorted residential rubbish, fragmented plastic materials, expanded polystyrene, tires and other everyday items.

It represents just a single of 517 unlawful dumps throughout the country, at a minimum of 11 of which contain over 20,000 tonnes of garbage. They include a 280,000-tonne site in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in the county of Kent.

The total figure of such larger locations is likely to be larger, as the environment agency has previously acknowledged it does not possess records on tonnage for each unauthorized dump.

A large proportion of these sites are in agricultural areas, frequently out of sight, and on land that is intended to be agricultural property.

Organized Enterprise

Law enforcement report many are operated by organised crime gangs, who are generating money by asking for significantly less than legitimate companies to receive and bury garbage.

Businesses have to incur disposal fees to use lawful landfill sites, based on the quantity and type of material they are trying to discard, and landfill tax is also levied at just over £126 per tonne.

Public Anger

Initial work to clear the Kidlington area dump started recently amid fears over the risk of fire and the impact that would have on the nearby highway.

A private clean-up company has been granted the contract to deal with the location over the next 12 months at a expense of £9.6m.

An investigations manager for the country's environmental crime team said that the body would be seeking to recoup the clearance expenses under asset recovery laws from any party successfully convicted at the end of its ongoing inquiry.

She noted that these arrests would help "move the inquiry forward" and allow the agency to "follow more avenues to determine exactly what occurred and who was implicated".

"The unlawful tip at Kidlington was an atrocious and deliberate attack on our ecology and officials understand the local outrage at this horrific crime," she stated.

A senior minister praised the arrests, adding: "This unauthorized deposit of waste at this location is utterly appalling and has resulted in substantial detriment to the natural world and distress to the local residents.

"The government is dedicated to eliminating this category of crime across the UK, by boosting resources to address environmental crime, hiring more personnel and enacting tougher checks and sanctions for those who violate the rules."

The arrests were executed on the specified day by agents from a dedicated organised crime unit and are in addition to an previous arrest of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area in November. He was released pending more enquiries.