Tonnes of illegally dumped pollution that is threatening the health of the Ramsar-listed Hunter wetlands has been uncovered at Sandgate.
Founder of Clean4Shore Graham Johnston visited the dump site on Thursday while working on a clean-up of the estuary.
He estimated about three tonnes of rubbish was strewn along a one kilometre stretch of the river bank west of the Ferry Road boat ramp.
"There's about 30-odd car and truck tyres in there as well as piles of residential and commercial rubbish," he said.
"It's an absolute disgrace that this keeps on happening."
Several agencies are responsible for managing the inter-tidal zone.
The group, which started working in the wetlands last weekend, has collected 75 bags of rubbish, weighing 650 kilograms, including 1200 plastic bottles.
Mr Johnston estimated there was at least another 1000 bags of rubbish, made up of illegally dumped items and urban run-off, still trapped in the mangroves.
While some of the pollution has been stuck among the mangroves for years, several tonnes of rubbish has been flushed through the river due to heavy rains in recent months.
A small army of volunteers has been working to rehabilitate Ash Island's habitat since the early 1990s.
Landcare group, Friends of the School Masters House, recently secured an $18,000 federal community environment grant to target pollution throughout the wetland.
The funding will provide the group with the resources to conduct eight clean-ups in the next 12 months.
"Urban run-off and debris is constantly coming down the river," the group's chairwoman Juila Brougham said.
"You often see large amounts of pollution concentrated in particular spots due to the river flow."
A National Parks and Wildlife Service spokeswoman said illegal dumping was an ongoing problem. Police, councils, the EPA, the Hunter Regional Illegal Dumping (RID) squad worked in partnership to investigate and prosecute dumpers and educate the community.
The Hunter River travels over 460km through the Hunter Valley to the Port of Newcastle.
" As a major river system the lower Hunter River is vulnerable to waste pollution, particularly from upstream stormwater runoff which carries litter and plastic waste into the river," the spokeswoman said.
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