The Environment Agency announced on 4 August 2026 that four men had been arrested in an ongoing investigation into large-scale illegal dumping of waste at the Bolton House Road site in Wigan. Greater Manchester, Lancashire and West Yorkshire Police officers, supporting the agency, made the arrests for environmental, fraud and money laundering offences. The suspects were a 41-year-old man and a 35-year-old man from Wigan, a 24-year-old man from Leeds and a 59-year-old man from Liverpool. The Leeds man was also arrested in connection with dumping at the Cave's Inn Pits Site of Special Scientific Interest near Shawell, Leicestershire, where the agency said 30,000 tonnes of shredded waste had been buried in layers under soil.

Sue Longstone, the agency's Director of Operations for the North, described the dumping at both sites as atrocious attacks on communities. The agency said its National Environmental Crime Unit is leading the investigation. It added that in May a 58-year-old man from the Birmingham area had also been arrested over dumping at Bolton House Road.

The government said it would directly fund the site's clean-up, with Wigan Council recruiting a specialist contractor. Concrete blocks had been placed at the site entrance to prevent further dumping. The report cited agency figures for 2024/25: 743 illegal waste sites stopped from operating without permits, 37 operations leading to 40 arrests through the Joint Unit for Waste Crime and 21 money laundering investigations.