Arrests Made in Link to Supersized Illegal Landfill

A pair of individuals have been taken into custody as a component of an investigation into the tipping of many thousands of metric tons of refuse in a open field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Law enforcement stated that a 69-year-old was apprehended at a dwelling in Hampshire's Andover, while a 54-year-old was detained in Slough, Berkshire in connection with the massive mound of garbage tipped near the area of Kidlington.

These arrests occur a week after a prior investigation which revealed the operation of over 500 unlawful tips throughout England, encompassing at minimum 11 so-called "major sites" greater than 20,000 tonnes.

A official for the environment body stated that the arrests were for environmental and money laundering violations and constituted a "key step" in continuing investigations. The apprehended men have been let go on bail.

Scale of the Issue

The dump in Kidlington, situated between the Cherwell River and the A34 highway, is estimated to contain about 21,000 tonnes of refuse 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 rubbish, shredded plastic items, Styrofoam, tires and other everyday objects.

It represents just one example of 517 illegal tips throughout England, at a minimum of 11 of which hold in excess of 20,000 tonnes of garbage. They encompass a 280,000-tonne location in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The total amount of such larger dumps is likely to be higher, as the environmental body has in the past acknowledged it does not possess data on weight for all illegal dump.

The majority sites are in agricultural locations, typically concealed, and on land that is zoned as agricultural ground.

Organised Activity

Police say many are operated by criminal organizations, who are making cash by demanding significantly less than legitimate firms to take and bury garbage.

Firms have to be liable for disposal fees to use lawful landfill sites, depending on the quantity and nature of refuse they are trying to discard, and landfill tax is also applied at just over £126 per ton.

Community Outrage

Initial operations to clean up the Kidlington area site commenced in recent weeks amid concerns over the potential of fire and the impact that would have on the adjacent major road.

A commercial waste removal contractor has been granted the contract to handle the area over the next 12 months period at a expense of £9.6m.

An enforcement officer for the government regulatory unit commented that the agency would be seeking to recover the clean-up expenses under proceeds of crime legislation from any party successfully found guilty at the termination of its current investigation.

She added that these apprehensions would help "drive the investigation forward" and allow officials to "investigate more leads to ascertain exactly what happened and who was involved".

"This unlawful tip at Kidlington was an atrocious and intentional assault on our natural surroundings and the authorities understand the community's anger at this egregious crime," she remarked.

A government official welcomed the detentions, commenting: "The unauthorized tipping of garbage at Kidlington is disgraceful and has led to significant detriment to the environment and upset to the local population.

"Our administration is pledged to eliminating this category of illegal activity across the nation, by boosting funds to combat illegal dumping, hiring more officers and introducing tougher checks and sanctions for those who break the rules."

The apprehensions were executed on the specified day by officers from a specialist crime squad and follow an prior arrest of a man in his thirties from the Surrey region in last November. He was set free pending more investigations.