Overview
- The response, named Operation Nation, has brought in extra Environment Agency officers and a joint effort with Thames Valley Police and fire services.
- Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds met EA chief Philip Duffy and pressed for decisive steps to limit harm and pursue those responsible.
- A temporary boom is already on the water and additional barriers are being fitted, with the EA reporting no evidence so far of waste breakdown.
- Regulators first attended in July, issued a cease-and-desist to the landowner, and secured a 23 October court order to close a site containing roughly 150 metres of shredded household and commercial waste.
- The investigation has announced no arrests, the Prime Minister condemned the dump and urged a rapid clean-up, and campaigners suggest organised crime may be involved.