The Environment Agency have confirmed clearance work on a high-profile illegal waste site in Kidlington will now begin in April after heavy rainfall.
Sustained rainfall throughout January and February has led to a significant increase in surface water at the 20,000 tonne waste dump, which is on a floodplain.
The Environment Agency says this means the heavy vehicles required to prepare the area for waste removal have been unable to operate on the site.
The clearance is expected to cost more than £9 million and is projected to take approximately six to nine months to complete.
Acumen Waste Services is contracted to remove the waste and was originally set to commence work at the end of February.
The Environment Agency and Acumen Waste Services have begun importing aggregate onto the site to improve the saturated ground conditions.
They plan to use the aggregate to build a raised track that gives vehicles safe access to the site, even if the ground remains saturated.
The Environment Agency has also installed sandbags around the site to block waste from leaching into the River Cherwell, which is adjacent to the dump.
The latest analysis of the water found ‘no evidence’ of pollution in the river caused by waste. However, the rainfall also meant that weekly water samples could not be collected in 2026 because of the conditions on site.
Currently, four people have been arrested as part of the investigation into the illegal waste dump.
Last month, a 69-year-old man was arrested in Andover, and a 54-year-old male was apprehended in Slough. Both were arrested for environmental and money laundering offences and have now been released on bail.
A 52-year-old man from Ashford in Surrey was arrested on 2 February, and last year, a 39-year-old man was arrested as part of the investigation into the illegal waste site.
Director of Policy, Communications and External Affairs at the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM), Dan Cooke, told the BBC that criminals could have made well over £500,000 from dumping the waste.
