The Environment Agency has set up a specialist environmental crime task force to tackle illegal waste sites and says it knows of over 600 in England and Wales, half of them within 50m of schools or sensitive sites.
The Agency has recruited former police officers to work alongside enforcement officers and has set aside £5m from its shrinking budget for the work.
But it says identifying and closing such sites often involves complex investigations and legal action.
"Waste crime is a serious offence that poses a risk to human health and can damage the environment," said Agency chief executive Paul Leinster.
"The Agency is working with all enforcement agencies to stamp it out. If you're involved in illegal waste activities, you should be looking over your shoulder and expecting a visit from our enforcement officers."
The Agency can at least usually rely on English courts and often on Welsh courts to impose meaningful sentences, unlike their counterparts in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
In August a Berkshire man was ordered to pay almost £900,000 for an illegal site and in late November a £22,000 fine was imposed in Wales.
Altogether, the Agency stopped, or brought into regulation, 1,195 illegal waste sites and brought over 400 prosecutions in 2010-1.
"These illegal waste sites do untold damage to the environment and cause misery for local people that have to live with toxic fumes, noise at all hours and unbearable smells," said environment minister Lord Taylor.
"We are cracking down on those sites that blight our communities and will work with the police and other partners to bring the criminals behind them to justice."
Early in December Agency officers joined Durham Constabulary in a raid on two suspected illegal sites near Stanley and Consett to gather evidence.
The sites were suspected of accommodating an illegal skip hire business and an illegal vehicle scrapyard.
