• Outdoors Outdoors

Local sparks outrage after disturbing discovery at secluded national park: 'People are the worst'

A sign at the site read: "DO NOT disturb these materials."

A sign at the site read: "DO NOT disturb these materials."

Photo Credit: iStock

National parks are expected to be a bastion of environmental friendliness, a place where people can connect with nature. But for one Australian Reddit user, a recent visit instead turned into a source of frustration.

A viral post in the r/Melbourne subreddit featured a picture that the user snapped within a secluded portion of Mornington Peninsula National Park, showing that illegal dumping of hazardous materials had allegedly occurred.

A sign at the site read: "DO NOT disturb these materials."
Photo Credit: Reddit

"Suspected asbestos containing materials have been identified," the sign read. "DO NOT disturb these materials."

The suspected dumping prompted the poster to vent, "People are the worst!" 

Mornington Peninsula National Park is located on the southern coast of Victoria, a little more than an hour's drive from downtown Melbourne. It's known for its surf beaches but also bills itself as "a haven for native wildlife" with "the largest fragment of native bushland remaining on the Mornington Peninsula."

But no matter how pristine a protected environment may be, illegal dumping can wreak havoc on it. Chemicals can seep into the soil, damaging local plants. They can also be dangerous to animals in the area, with dumped chemicals causing long-term health issues and other litter posing immediate threats such as suffocation.

Asbestos can be particularly dangerous. Inhaling asbestos fibers can lead to serious health complications, such as mesothelioma. A United Nations report showed how, despite its adverse effects being known for nearly 100 years, roughly 250,000 people die each year because of asbestos exposure.

In 1932, the U.S. Bureau of Mines wrote: "It is now known that asbestos dust is one of the most dangerous dusts to which man is exposed."

Sadly, this isn't the first time in recent memory that asbestos has caused a stir in Australia. Just last year in New South Wales, asbestos fibers were found in bags of recycled soil.

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