Fly-tippers dump ‘mountain of illegal waste’ near river

Fly-tippers have dumped a “mountain of illegal waste” close to a river in Oxfordshire.

The cost of removing the 60-metre long, 15-metre wide pile of rubbish could be more than the entire annual budget of the local council.

Hundreds of tonnes of waste, stacked 10 metres high, appeared in a field between the river Cherwell and the A34 near Kidlington.

Calum Miller, Liberal Democrat MP for Bicester and Woodstock, said the site is on a floodplain.

He told Parliament: “Criminals have dumped a mountain of illegal waste weighing hundreds of tonnes in my constituency on a floodplain adjacent to the river Cherwell.

“The Environment Agency said it has limited resources for enforcement.

“The estimated cost of removal is greater than the entire annual budget of the local district council.”

A charity, Friends of the Thames, said the illegal rubbish dump was created about a month ago by an organised crime group.

It said no visible containment or mitigation measures appear to be in place.

The charity’s chief executive, Laura Reineke, said: “This is an environmental catastrophe unfolding in plain sight.

“A mountain of waste has been allowed to build up just metres from the river Cherwell – an illegal landfill sitting on the floodplain of one of our most important waterways.

“Every day that passes increases the risk of toxic run-off entering the river system, poisoning wildlife and threatening the health of the entire catchment.

“The Environment Agency must act now, not in months or years – which is their usual reaction time. This is exactly what happens when environmental crime is ignored – and it’s our rivers, wildlife, and communities that pay the price.”

Anya Gleizer, a geography researcher at Oxford University, said the dump poses an “environmental and health emergency”.

“What we have on our hands, right now, is an environmental and health emergency that threatens not only the Cherwell river and its ecosystem, but also poses a direct risk to us: the communities living downstream from the dump-site,” she said.

“As an ecologist, river guardian, rower but also, more simply, as a mother of a child that enjoys splashing about and fishing for aquatic invertebrates, I have to emphasise that this crime has more far-reaching consequences.”

The Environment Agency has obtained a court order to close the site to all public access for at least six months.

A spokesperson said: “Specialist officers are investigating waste dumped near the A34 at Kidlington. Their role will be to find who left the waste there and take appropriate action.

“We share the public’s anger about incidents like this, which is why we take action against those responsible for waste crime. Anyone with information here, or if they suspect waste crime elsewhere, can call the Environment Agency’s 24-hour incident hotline: 0800 807060.”

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.

But Philip Duffy, the agency’s chief executive, hit back, and said: “I think it’s very unfair on my hardworking staff to be accused of incompetence.”