🔗 Share this article

Two men have been detained as part of an probe into the illegal deposit of several thousand of tons of waste in a rural field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Authorities indicated that a man in his late sixties was arrested at a property in Hampshire's Andover, while a 54-year-old was detained in the town of Slough in relation with the massive mound of garbage dumped near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These apprehensions occur a week after a prior revelation which uncovered the existence of over 500 unauthorized dumps in the country of England, including at least 11 so-called "super sites" larger than 20,000 tons.

A representative for the regulatory agency commented that the arrests were for ecological and money laundering violations and were a "key step" in ongoing probes. The apprehended men have been set free on pre-trial release.

Magnitude of the Situation

The dump in the Kidlington area, situated between the river Cherwell and the A34 highway, is believed to hold approximately 21,000 tons of rubbish in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) tall.

This heap of garbage is made up of what appears to be sorted domestic refuse, chopped up plastic items, expanded polystyrene, automobile tires and various domestic articles.

It is just one of 517 illegal tips across the country, at a minimum of 11 of which are estimated to hold over 20,000 metric tons of garbage. These feature a 280,000-tonne area in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire county and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne dump in the county of Kent.

The total amount of such bigger sites is expected to be higher, as the environmental body has earlier indicated it does not possess records on tonnage for every illegal site.

Most sites are in countryside areas, frequently out of sight, and on land that is intended to be agricultural property.

Criminal Operations

Authorities report many are operated by organised crime gangs, who are earning profit by charging far less than licensed firms to take and landfill garbage.

Companies have to incur gate fees to use licensed landfill sites, depending on the volume and nature of material they are trying to discard, and a waste tax is also levied at just over £126 per tonne.

Community Outrage

Preparation operations to clear the affected site began in recent weeks following fears over the potential of combustion and the impact that would have on the adjacent major road.

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

An compliance manager for the national regulatory team said that the agency would be aiming to claim back the remediation expenses under asset recovery laws from any party prosecuted at the termination of its ongoing investigation.

She further stated that these arrests would help "move the inquiry forward" and permit officials to "follow more leads to ascertain exactly what transpired and who was implicated".

"This unauthorized site at this location was an appalling and deliberate assault on our ecology and the authorities empathize with the local anger at this horrific crime," she stated.

A cabinet official praised the detentions, adding: "This unauthorized dumping of rubbish at Kidlington is appalling and has resulted in substantial damage to the environment and anguish to the local residents.

"Our authorities is committed to eliminating this kind of illegal activity across the UK, by boosting financing to tackle illegal dumping, recruiting more personnel and enacting stricter measures and fines for those who flout the regulations."

The detentions were executed on a recent Thursday by personnel from a dedicated crime unit and follow an prior apprehension of a man in his thirties from the Surrey area in the autumn. He was set free pending more investigations.