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Two individuals have been arrested as part of an inquiry into the dumping of many thousands of tons of rubbish in a field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Authorities stated that a 69-year-old was arrested at a residence in Hampshire's Andover, while a 54-year-old was taken into custody in the town of Slough in association with the huge mound of rubbish deposited near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These detentions come after a previous revelation which revealed the presence of in excess of 500 illegal sites throughout the country of England, including at minimum 11 so-called "major sites" greater than 20,000 metric tons.

A representative for the regulatory authorities said that the apprehensions were for ecological and money laundering offences and constituted a "crucial step" in ongoing 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 highway, is believed to contain around 21,000 tons of rubbish in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) high.

This mound of garbage is made up of what seems to be processed residential refuse, fragmented plastic items, Styrofoam, automobile tires and assorted domestic items.

It constitutes just one example of 517 unauthorized tips in England, at minimum 11 of which contain in excess of 20,000 tons of waste. Such sites feature a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne locations in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The actual amount of such larger locations is probably to be larger, as the regulatory body has previously acknowledged it does not hold information on volume for each unlawful tip.

The majority these sites are in countryside settings, often concealed, and on land that is intended to be agricultural property.

Criminal Enterprise

Law enforcement state a significant number are managed by organised crime gangs, who are making cash by charging much less than lawful operators to take and dispose of waste.

Companies have to pay disposal fees to use licensed disposal sites, contingent on the quantity and nature of waste they are trying to discard, and a disposal levy is also levied at just over £126 per tonne.

Public Frustration

Initial operations to clear the affected site began earlier this month amid worries over the risk of combustion and the consequences that would have on the close-by highway.

A contracted waste clearance firm has been awarded the task to deal with the area over the next 12 months period at a expense of £9.6m.

An compliance officer for the government environment unit stated that the body would be seeking to recoup the remediation expenses under asset recovery acts from any party ultimately found guilty at the end of its current case.

She added that these apprehensions would help "move the investigation forward" and permit authorities to "investigate more avenues to determine in detail what occurred and who was a party to it".

"This unauthorized dump at the site was an shocking and calculated assault on our environment and officials empathize with the community's frustration at this horrific act," she stated.

A cabinet minister supported the detentions, adding: "This unlawful tipping of garbage at the site is utterly appalling and has caused substantial detriment to the ecology and upset to the nearby population.

"The government is dedicated to eradicating this type of criminality across the nation, by augmenting financing to address illegal dumping, hiring more officers and introducing stricter checks and sanctions for those who flout the law."

The arrests were made on Thursday by officers from a specialist serious crime team and come after an previous arrest of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area region in November. He was set free subject to further enquiries.