Fly-tippers dump ‘mountain’ of waste in Oxfordshire field | Waste

Flying skips have dumped a “mountain of illegal waste” in Oxfordshire so big that removing it could cost more than the local council’s annual budget, the area’s MP has said.

Hundreds of tonnes of waste, piled 10 meters high, appeared in a field between the River Cherwell and the A34, near Kidlington. A charity has called the massive rubbish dump an “environmental disaster unfolding in plain sight”.

Calum Miller, Liberal Democrat MP for Bicester and Woodstock, told Parliament that “the estimated cost of withdrawal is more than the entire annual budget of the local district council”.

He added: “Criminals have dumped a mountain of illegal waste weighing hundreds of tonnes in my constituency, in a flood plain adjacent to the River Cherwell. The Environment Agency has said it has limited resources to enforce the law.”

Friends of the Thames said the illegal dump was set up about a month ago by an organized crime group. He said no visible containment or mitigation measures appeared to be in place.

The association’s chief executive, Laura Reineke, said: “This is an environmental disaster unfolding before our eyes.

“A mountain of waste could have accumulated just meters from Rver Cherwell – an illegal dump site located in the floodplain of one of our most important waterways.

“Each day that passes increases the risk of toxic runoff entering the river system, poisoning wildlife and threatening the health of the entire watershed.

“The Environment Agency must act now, not months or years from now – which is its usual response time. »

Billy Burnell, a local fisherman who regularly fishes in the area, told the BBC he noticed the cluster in September. He said it was “horrible” and called the potential runoff into the river an “environmental disaster waiting to happen.”

Anya Gleizer, a geography researcher at the University of Oxford, said: “What we have on our hands, right now, is an environmental and health emergency that not only threatens the River Cherwell and its ecosystem, but also poses a direct risk to us: the communities living downstream of the landfill,” she said.

“As an environmentalist, river keeper, rower but also, more simply, the mother of a child who enjoys splashing and fishing for aquatic invertebrates, I must emphasize that this crime has more serious 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 in Kidlington. Their role will be to find out who left the waste there and take appropriate action.

In a report published last month, the Environment and Climate Change Committee said organized crime gangs were illegally dumping millions of tonnes of waste across the countryside each year.

The committee identified the incompetence of the Environment Agency as a factor in the growing crisis.

But Philip Duffy, the agency’s chief executive, hit back: “I think it is very unfair to my hard-working staff to be accused of incompetence. »