A mountain of tyres - about 6000 so far with more expected - is being stored on farmland a short distance from the edge of Lake Taupo.
The tyre dump on land in Puketapu Rd, Western Bay, is only 2km from the lake's pristine Kawakawa Bay and Boat Harbour, and Taupo mayor David Trewavas says if the tyres catch fire, it'll be an environmental catastrophe.
The tyres have come from a 150,000 tyre pile in Frankton, Hamilton, that the Hamilton City Council is paying to have removed - with the unwanted waste being shunted to Taupo and Waihi.
According to news reports, the Frankton tyre mountain was supposed to be trucked to Kawerau to be recycled by a company called EcoVersion. The Hamilton City Council has a $260,000 contract with EcoVersion to dispose of the tyres and they were all expected to be cleared by May 31.
However, the Kawerau District Council was so concerned about the build-up of tyres that it has tried to block further trucks bringing in tyres to add to the pile, already estimated to total 200,000.