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Two men have been taken into custody as part of an investigation into the illegal deposit of thousands of metric tons of refuse in a field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Officials reported that a 69-year-old was apprehended at a dwelling in Andover, Hampshire, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in the town of Slough in association with the massive mound of garbage tipped near the area of Kidlington.

These arrests occur a week after a previous investigation which uncovered the existence of over 500 unauthorized dumps throughout England, featuring at minimum 11 so-called "major sites" larger than 20,000 tonnes.

A representative for the environment body commented that the arrests were for environmental and money laundering violations and were a "vital step" in active inquiries. The two individuals have been let go on conditional release.

Magnitude of the Issue

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

This heap of waste is consists of what seems to be processed household refuse, shredded plastics, Styrofoam, automobile tires and other household items.

It is just one of 517 unauthorized tips throughout England, at minimum 11 of which hold over 20,000 metric tons of garbage. They feature a 280,000-tonne location in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The total number of such major sites is expected to be greater, as the environment body has previously acknowledged it does not maintain data on weight for every unauthorized site.

A large proportion of sites are in rural locations, typically concealed, and on land that is intended to be agricultural ground.

Criminal Operations

Authorities say many are operated by organised crime gangs, who are earning cash by charging much less than legitimate operators to receive and dispose of waste.

Businesses have to be liable for gate fees to use legitimate disposal sites, depending on the volume and type of waste they are trying to get rid of, and landfill tax is also levied at just over £126 per ton.

Community Anger

Preparation work to clear the Kidlington dump commenced recently due to worries over the potential of blaze and the consequences that would have on the nearby highway.

A commercial waste removal contractor has been granted the job to remediate the location over the next 12 months period at a expense of £9.6m.

An enforcement official for the national regulatory unit stated that the body would be looking to recover the clearance expenses under confiscation laws from any individual found guilty at the end of its active case.

She noted that this week's detentions would help "drive the probe forward" and permit officials to "investigate more lines of inquiry to determine exactly what transpired and who was a party to it".

"The unauthorized dump at this location was an appalling and intentional affront on our environment and officials empathize with the community's anger at this terrible act," she said.

A cabinet official praised the arrests, commenting: "This unauthorized tipping of rubbish at Kidlington is disgraceful and has resulted in significant harm to the environment and upset to the local population.

"Our authorities is committed to eradicating this kind of illegal activity in the country, by increasing resources to tackle waste crime, hiring more officers and implementing tougher checks and fines for those who break the rules."

The arrests were executed on a recent Thursday by officers from a regional crime team and follow an previous detention of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area area in the autumn. He was released awaiting further inquiries.