The Canadian province of Alberta has contradicted the claims of the Taranaki Regional Council (TRC) that it allows fracking waste to be applied to farms.
In Taranaki, the waste from fracking is controversially being applied to farmland – an operation known as land-farming.
Fracking is the mining process that involves the high-pressure injection of water and a cocktail of chemicals far below the earth's surface to access oil and gas.
TRC director of environment quality Gary Bedford says the council knows the practice is safe because in addition to carrying out its own testing, it is following the lead on what Alberta is doing.
But the Alberta Energy Regulator has told Radio New Zealand that it does not allow fracking waste to be applied to farmland and insists it be disposed of in industrial waste facilities.
It says fracking waste, as opposed to waste from traditional drilling operations, is not suitable for agricultural land.