🔗 Share this article

A pair of individuals have been detained as a component of an probe into the dumping of several thousand of tons of waste in a rural field in Oxfordshire, England.

Officials indicated that a man in his late sixties was detained at a dwelling in Andover, Hampshire, while a man in his fifties was taken into custody in the town of Slough in relation with the huge heap of garbage dumped near the area of Kidlington.

These apprehensions occur a week after a previous report which exposed the existence of more than 500 unauthorized sites across England, featuring at minimum 11 so-called "super sites" larger than 20,000 tonnes.

A representative for the environmental authorities commented that the apprehensions were for environment-related and proceeds of crime crimes and were a "key step" in ongoing probes. The apprehended men have been let go on pre-trial release.

Scale of the Issue

The illegal site in near Kidlington, located between the Cherwell River and the A34, is thought to house approximately 21,000 tons of waste in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) in height.

This pile of garbage is composed of what appears to be processed residential waste, chopped up plastics, polystyrene, automobile tires and other everyday articles.

It represents just one of 517 unlawful sites in England, at a minimum of 11 of which contain over 20,000 metric tons of garbage. They include a 280,000-tonne area in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The actual amount of such bigger dumps is likely to be greater, as the regulatory authority has earlier acknowledged it does not maintain records on weight for each unlawful dump.

A large proportion of these sites are in countryside areas, often hidden, and on land that should be agricultural land.

Organised Activity

Authorities say numerous are run by organised crime gangs, who are making profit by asking for far less than lawful operators to accept and landfill garbage.

Companies have to incur disposal fees to use legitimate landfill sites, based on the volume and nature of material they are trying to discard, and a disposal levy is also applied at just over £126 per tonne.

Local Frustration

Initial work to clear the Kidlington site started recently due to concerns over the threat of combustion and the consequences that would have on the close-by highway.

A contracted waste removal contractor has been awarded the contract to handle the site over the following 12 months at a price of £9.6m.

An compliance officer for the country's environment unit commented that the authority would be seeking to recover the clean-up costs under asset recovery acts from any individual convicted at the end of its active case.

She further stated that this week's apprehensions would help "drive the investigation forward" and enable the agency to "investigate more leads to understand exactly what happened and who was a party to it".

"The unauthorized tip at the site was an shocking and deliberate affront on our natural surroundings and we empathize with the public's frustration at this horrific act," she said.

A senior official supported the detentions, adding: "The unlawful deposit of waste at this location is appalling and has led to substantial harm to the natural world and distress to the surrounding residents.

"Our authorities is committed to eliminating this type of crime throughout the country, by boosting funds to tackle illegal dumping, recruiting more staff and enacting tougher checks and penalties for those who break the regulations."

The detentions were executed on a recent Thursday by agents from a dedicated crime team and are in addition to an earlier detention of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area in November. He was let go subject to additional inquiries.