LONDON – A mountain of illegally dumped trash near a river in the country outside Oxford was visible from space but few on Earth seemed to notice the mess.

Hidden behind a thick row of trees from the busy highway next to it, the pile grew to the length of three Olympic-sized swimming pools and reached up to the roof of a two-story house as motorists unknowingly sped past.

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How the garbage got there and how long the massive pile had been growing remains a mystery, but its recent discovery has caused an outcry about a brewing environmental crisis and drawn attention to England's uphill battle to tackle criminal gangs suspected of illegally dumping waste.

“How they managed to escape the eyes is quite shocking,” said Liz Gyekye of Thames 21, an environmental charity. “Le

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