Arrests Made in Connection to Enormous Unlawful Rubbish Dump
A pair of individuals have been detained as part of an investigation into the illegal deposit of several thousand of tonnes of waste in a open field in Oxfordshire, England.
Officials indicated that a 69-year-old was apprehended at a residence in Hampshire's Andover, while a man in his fifties was taken into custody in Slough in association with the huge heap of waste deposited near Kidlington.
These arrests come after a prior investigation which uncovered the operation of over 500 illegal dumps across England, including at minimum 11 so-called "major sites" larger than 20,000 tons.
A spokeswoman for the environment agency said that the detentions were for environment-related and money laundering crimes and represented a "crucial step" in continuing inquiries. Both men have been set free on bail.
Size of the Issue
The tipping ground in the Kidlington area, located between the River Cherwell and the A34, is believed to contain approximately 21,000 tons of waste in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) high.
This mound of garbage is composed of what looks to be sorted household refuse, shredded plastics, expanded polystyrene, tyres and various everyday objects.
It constitutes just one of 517 unlawful tips in England, at a minimum of 11 of which are estimated to hold over 20,000 metric tons of rubbish. They encompass a 280,000-tonne area in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire county and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne dump in the county of Kent.
The overall number of such major sites is expected to be greater, as the environmental agency has earlier indicated it does not maintain data on volume for each unlawful dump.
A large proportion of these sites are in rural settings, typically concealed, and on land that is intended to be agricultural land.
Criminal Operations
Authorities say numerous are managed by organized crime groups, who are earning money by asking for significantly less than lawful operators to receive and landfill garbage.
Businesses have to incur disposal fees to use legitimate landfill sites, based on the quantity and category of material they are trying to discard, and landfill tax is also levied at just over £126 per tonne.
Local Frustration
Initial work to clear the Kidlington location commenced in recent weeks following fears over the potential of blaze and the impact that would have on the nearby A-road.
A commercial clean-up firm has been awarded the contract to remediate the site over the coming 12 months at a expense of £9.6m.
An compliance manager for the government environment team said that the body would be looking to claim back the clean-up expenses under confiscation laws from any party successfully found guilty at the termination of its current investigation.
She added that these detentions would help "push the probe forward" and allow authorities to "follow more avenues to ascertain exactly what happened and who was involved".
"The illegal dump at this location was an appalling and intentional assault on our ecology and officials empathize with the public's anger at this egregious crime," she said.
A government official welcomed the detentions, adding: "The unlawful tipping of waste at this location is disgraceful and has resulted in considerable harm to the environment and anguish to the nearby community.
"Our authorities is committed to stamping out this category of criminality across the nation, by augmenting funds to tackle environmental crime, employing more personnel and introducing more severe measures and sanctions for those who flout the law."
The detentions were carried out on a recent Thursday by officers from a dedicated organised crime squad and are in addition to an earlier apprehension of a 39-year-old from the Guildford region in November. He was set free awaiting additional inquiries.
