SIDNEY, Neb. (AP) — Opponents have renewed calls for eliminating the agency that regulates Nebraska’s oil and gas industry, saying its decision on an oil production wastewater site posed a reckless threat to groundwater.

But at the same hearing in Sidney where the criticism was heard Tuesday, backers of the Nebraska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission said it is recognized across the nation as a staunch defender of groundwater.

The hearing by the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee was called after the commission approved a request in April by Terex Energy Corp., of Broomfield, Colorado, to use a well north of Mitchell to dispose of salty groundwater and chemical-laden fracking wastewater that result from oil and gas exploration and production.

The Natural Resources Committee is expected to hold another hearing in early December in Lincoln.