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A pair of individuals have been arrested as part of an probe into the dumping of several thousand of metric tons of waste in a open field in Oxfordshire.

Authorities indicated that a 69-year-old was apprehended at a residence in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was arrested in the town of Slough in association with the massive mound of waste dumped near the area of Kidlington.

These arrests occur a week after a previous investigation which exposed the existence of in excess of 500 unauthorized tips throughout the country of England, including at minimum 11 so-called "super sites" greater than 20,000 tonnes.

A official for the environment authorities commented that the arrests were for ecological and money laundering violations and represented a "vital step" in continuing investigations. The apprehended men have been let go on pre-trial release.

Scale of the Situation

The dump in the Kidlington area, located between the river Cherwell and the A34 road, is believed to contain about 21,000 tonnes of rubbish in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) high.

This mound of garbage is made up of what seems to be sorted household refuse, fragmented plastic materials, expanded polystyrene, tires and assorted everyday objects.

It constitutes just one of 517 unlawful sites throughout the country, at least 11 of which hold over 20,000 tonnes of rubbish. Such sites encompass a 280,000-tonne area in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The actual amount of such larger sites is probably to be higher, as the environment authority has in the past stated it does not maintain data on weight for each unlawful tip.

The majority sites are in agricultural areas, often concealed, and on land that is zoned as arable property.

Organized Enterprise

Law enforcement state a significant number are managed by organised crime gangs, who are generating cash by asking for much less than legitimate operators to accept and bury waste.

Businesses have to incur gate fees to use lawful landfill sites, based on the volume and type of material they are trying to discard, and a disposal levy is also charged at just over £126 per ton.

Public Outrage

Initial operations to remove the affected location started earlier this month following fears over the potential of combustion and the impact that would have on the close-by A-road.

A private waste clearance firm has been granted the contract to remediate the area over the next 12 months at a expense of £9.6m.

An compliance manager for the country's environmental crime division said that the agency would be looking to recoup the remediation expenses under proceeds of crime acts from anyone successfully convicted at the end of its ongoing case.

She added that these apprehensions would help "push the inquiry forward" and permit officials to "pursue more avenues to understand in detail what transpired and who was involved".

"The unauthorized tip at the site was an shocking and calculated affront on our environment and the authorities empathize with the local anger at this horrific act," she said.

A government representative praised the detentions, stating: "The illegal deposit of garbage at the site is appalling and has caused considerable damage to the natural world and distress to the nearby population.

"Our authorities is pledged to eradicating this type of criminality throughout the country, by increasing financing to tackle waste crime, employing more personnel and enacting tougher controls and sanctions for those who break the law."

The apprehensions were made on the specified day by personnel from a specialist serious crime squad and come after an earlier apprehension of a 39-year-old from the Surrey region in last November. He was released pending more enquiries.