Image description: Rubbish on the edge of a river. Photo by Collab Media on Unsplash
The Environment Agency (EA) has launched a criminal investigation into a massive fly-tip that has appeared next to the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, measuring around 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) high. A legal expert has warned there is now evidence of possible large-scale corruption in waste management, after revelations that waste from local authorities and primary schools in the south-east is among the vast mound of rubbish.
Environmental catastrophe
The fly-tippers are thought to have begun building up the mound of waste since the summer and the rubbish itself is made up of what appears to be processed domestic waste, shredded plastics, polystyrene, tyres, and other household items.
The EA has said it will not clear up the waste and instead would try to “ensure those responsible” for the dump clear it up. The agency said it was monitoring the site to protect people and the environment from harm.
Calum Miller, Liberal Democrat MP for Bicester and Woodstock, asked an Urgent Question in the House of Commons on Monday, concerned that in recent days the river level had risen by about 4ft (1.2m).
With the site on a floodplain, Mr Miller warns of three major environmental risks – waste being washed into the waterways, rain seeping through the waste and carrying toxins into the water and the danger of decomposing chemicals presenting a fire risk.
He said: “This incident highlights that organised criminal gangs are carefully planning operations to dump industrial waste in the countryside.
“They earn millions of pounds in illegal earnings without a thought for the health of people or animals, nor the damage to soil, water or air.”
The clean up
The cost of removing the waste is estimated to be more than the entire annual budget of the local council, which is around £25m.
The EA said after being made aware of the incident in July it took “immediate action – issuing a cease-and-desist order on the landowner” and has now launched a “major investigation” alongside the police to “find those responsible and bring them to justice”.
However, Calum Miller MP believes the was the work of “organised criminal gangs” and is concerned “the Environmental Agency lacks the resources to deal with criminal activity on this scale. He has called for an urgent government directive for the EA to clear the site, similar to a previous order issued for Hoades Wood in Kent.
Friends of the Thames’s chief executive officer, Laura Reineke, told Sky News the fact that the area had been prepared with large earth-moving vehicles and that the rubbish was “pre-shredded”, then dumped so neatly showed the operation had been “very well organised”. She also questioned the EA’s management of the situation, having been aware of the dump since at least 10 September, calling it “a story of total incompetence”. She said the delay had caused an “ecocide on an epic scale”.
Sky News produced an exclusive report on the growing problem of waste crime. In a report released last month, the Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee warned that organised crime gangs are illegally dumping millions of tonnes of waste across the countryside every year.
The committee identified incompetence at the Environment Agency as a factor in the growing crisis. The EA has urged anyone with information to call its 24-hour incident hotline.