More than 140 tonnes of illegally dumped waste have been removed from an environmental reserve in North Queensland in recent years, the Department of Environment and Science says.
The Townsville Port Access Reserve has become a hotspot for unlawful dumping, with rangers vowing to crack down on those found responsible.
"Our rangers have removed over 100 tonnes of waste in the last couple of years, and the local clean-up group who have been working with us recently have removed another 40 tonnes of waste over about the last 18 months," senior conservation officer Craig Dunk said.
"We've pulled vehicles out of the creek, we've got crab pots, fridges, freezers, household waste, boxes full of fish frames, bundles of nappies, couches, green waste.
"Everything you can imagine is down there, including some pretty disgusting items ... as well as drug paraphernalia.
"The landfill and waste transfer station is only a few minutes further down the road, and yet people constantly decide to pull up in the protected area ... and dump their waste.
"It's just ludicrous."
The Townsville City Council said it received more than 50 reports of illegal dumping around the city each month.
Phil Gibson runs Phil's Bush Cleanup, a volunteer group that deals with discarded rubbish at the Townsville Port Access Reserve.
He says the area has been used as a dump for many years.
"Every time we go out there we find a new illegal dump site ... it's an ongoing drama," Mr Gibson said.
"It's particularly frustrating when we go out there for a community event and clean up an area, and then when we go out there for the next event, we find that the area we cleaned up has been littered with rubbish again."
Mr Gibson says household waste is the biggest problem, with people often tipping the contents of trailers into the natural environment.
"We even had one dump out which we could only think was a childcare centre, because there were 110 nappies out there," he said.
Individuals found responsible for illegal dumping in Queensland can be fined up to $2,300, while businesses face penalties almost $10,800.
The Department of Environment and Science said one person had been fined in the past two months and other investigations were underway.
"We take quite a bit of time and quite a bit of care to look through the items that have been disposed of, and in those items, there can be all sorts of information which can lead us to a business or to an individual," Mr Dunk said.
"Sometimes it's very obvious information, like a name and address on an envelope or on a box, and sometimes it's less obvious."
In one case, rangers identified dumped items at the reserve belonging to a Townsville nail salon.
After alerting the business, the waste was removed from the site.
Mr Dunk said cleaning up illegal dumping put a "huge strain" on rangers' resources.
"It's time that we could better spend doing other activities like fire management, weed management, feral animal management, improving the infrastructure and visitor facilities," he said.
