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Two men have been taken into custody as part of an inquiry into the illegal deposit of many thousands of tonnes of rubbish in a field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Authorities stated that a man in his late sixties was detained at a property in Hampshire's Andover, while a man in his fifties was detained in Slough, Berkshire in connection with the massive pile of waste tipped near Kidlington.

These apprehensions come after a prior revelation which revealed the existence of over 500 unauthorized sites in the country of England, encompassing at minimum 11 so-called "large-scale sites" greater than 20,000 metric tons.

A representative for the environmental body said that the detentions were for environmental and money laundering violations and constituted a "key step" in active probes. The two individuals have been let go on conditional release.

Magnitude of the Problem

The dump in Kidlington, situated between the Cherwell River and the A34, is thought to contain about 21,000 tonnes of rubbish in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) high.

This pile of waste is consists of what appears to be treated domestic rubbish, chopped up plastic items, polystyrene, tyres and various everyday items.

It represents just a single of 517 illegal tips in England, at minimum 11 of which contain over 20,000 tons of waste. Such sites encompass a 280,000-tonne location in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The overall figure of such larger sites is expected to be higher, as the environmental body has in the past acknowledged it does not possess data on tonnage for each illegal site.

The majority these sites are in countryside settings, frequently hidden, and on land that should be agricultural ground.

Organized Enterprise

Law enforcement report numerous are operated by criminal organizations, who are generating money by charging far less than lawful operators to take and dispose of rubbish.

Firms have to be liable for site fees to use lawful waste facilities, depending on the amount and category of refuse they are trying to get rid of, and landfill tax is also applied at just over £126 per metric ton.

Community Outrage

Initial work to clean up the Kidlington area dump started earlier this month due to concerns over the threat of combustion and the consequences that would have on the nearby A-road.

A contracted clean-up company has been given the task to remediate the area over the coming 12 months period at a expense of £9.6m.

An investigations officer for the country's environment division said that the authority would be looking to recoup the remediation costs under asset recovery acts from any party convicted at the conclusion of its active investigation.

She further stated that the recent detentions would help "drive the investigation forward" and allow authorities to "follow more avenues to understand precisely what occurred and who was involved".

"The illegal dump at the site was an atrocious and deliberate attack on our natural surroundings and officials empathize with the local outrage at this horrific crime," she remarked.

A government official welcomed the actions, stating: "The unlawful deposit of waste at Kidlington is disgraceful and has caused considerable harm to the natural world and upset to the local community.

"Our administration is dedicated to eliminating this type of criminality in the nation, by augmenting financing to tackle environmental crime, recruiting more officers and enacting tougher controls and fines for those who break the law."

The arrests were made on a recent Thursday by agents from a specialist organised crime squad and come after an earlier arrest of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area in the autumn. He was released subject to more investigations.