Queensland park rangers say they are disgusted by a sharp rise in illegal dumping in a Townsville national park just minutes away from a tip.
Among the items found were hazardous asbestos sheeting, stolen copper wire casing and hundreds of rotten mangoes.
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service senior conservation officer Craig Dunk said the Pinnacles Reserve and the Townsville Port Access Reserve were the problem areas.
"Unfortunately, people are going to a lot of effort to dump in the bush," he said.
"We are only talking about another few minutes' trip from some of where this material is dumped to where it can be lawfully disposed of.
"Unfortunately, we've found a whole different raft of waste."
Mr Dunk said the asbestos sheeting was of particular concern.
"Members of the community who may not know it's asbestos sheeting could encounter asbestos fibres, which is a serious health risk," he said.
Mr Dunk said an oversupply of mangoes this summer could be behind the mounds of fruit found dumped, along with the plastic buckets they were often sold in.
"Some of it is just sheer laziness, because many of these things, like green waste, can be lawfully disposed of at council-provided facilities at no cost," he said.
'A bit of a trend'
Park rangers are also finding copper wire casings.
"There is a bit of a trend around Townsville to strip wire and to take it in for monetary return and leave the plastic casings out in the bush," he said.
"That obviously presents a health risk if we have a bushfire in the area and those plastics are burnt, because they can give off noxious smoke."
The Department of Environment and Science announced a "crackdown" on illegal dumping in Townsville last year.
It has issued six fines for dumping in the region since August last year.
The penalties for illegally dumping less than 2,500 litres of waste range from $2,300 to $57,500 for individuals.
Companies can be fined between $7,187 and $287,500.
Dumping more than 2,500L can lead to a fine of up to $143,750 for a person and $718,750 for a company.
Mr Dunk said rangers would be removing the waste found at the two national parks in the coming weeks.
He encouraged anyone with information on the illegal dumping activity to contact the Department of Environment and Science.
"If they see someone with a trailer-load of waste that's heading in the wrong direction, we definitely want to know about it," Mr Dunk said.
