🔗 Share this article

A pair of individuals have been arrested as an element of an inquiry into the dumping of many thousands of metric tons of waste in a field in Oxfordshire, England.

Officials stated that a 69-year-old was detained at a property in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was detained in Slough in association with the massive mound of rubbish tipped near Kidlington.

These detentions come after a prior report which exposed the presence of more than 500 unauthorized dumps in the country of England, encompassing at a minimum of 11 so-called "large-scale sites" larger than 20,000 tonnes.

A spokeswoman for the regulatory authorities commented that the apprehensions were for ecological and proceeds of crime crimes and were a "key step" in active probes. The two individuals have been set free on bail.

Scale of the Situation

The illegal site in near Kidlington, situated between the Cherwell River and the A34, is believed to contain about 21,000 tonnes of refuse in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) in height.

This pile of garbage is made up of what seems to be treated domestic rubbish, chopped up plastic materials, Styrofoam, tires and assorted domestic items.

It is just one of 517 illegal tips in England, at a minimum of 11 of which contain over 20,000 metric tons of waste. Such sites include a 280,000-tonne area in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The actual number of such major locations is likely to be larger, as the environment authority has earlier indicated it does not maintain data on volume for all unlawful tip.

A large proportion of such locations are in agricultural settings, often out of sight, and on land that should be agricultural ground.

Organised Activity

Authorities report a significant number are operated by criminal organizations, who are making profit by demanding far less than lawful operators to take and dispose of waste.

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

Local Anger

Preparation operations to clear the affected dump began recently following concerns over the potential of blaze and the impact that would have on the nearby major road.

A commercial waste removal company has been given the task to handle the site over the next 12 months at a expense of £9.6m.

An investigations official for the national environment team said that the authority would be looking to recoup the clean-up costs under asset recovery laws from any party successfully convicted at the termination of its active case.

She added that this week's detentions would help "drive the inquiry forward" and enable authorities to "pursue more leads to ascertain precisely what transpired and who was involved".

"This unlawful tip at the site was an shocking and calculated affront on our natural surroundings and the authorities empathize with the public's anger at this horrific crime," she stated.

A cabinet representative praised the arrests, stating: "The unauthorized deposit of garbage at this location is utterly appalling and has caused substantial detriment to the ecology and upset to the surrounding community.

"Our government is dedicated to eliminating this type of criminality throughout the country, by increasing resources to address waste crime, recruiting more personnel and implementing more severe controls and penalties for those who violate the regulations."

The arrests were carried out on Thursday by officers from a dedicated organised crime squad and are in addition to an previous arrest of a 39-year-old from the Guildford area region in November. He was let go awaiting further investigations.