The huge quantities of waste generated by fracking pose a significant disposal problem for the industry as well as health and environmental impacts to nearby and distant communities. Congress has exempted oil and gas waste from the definition of hazardous waste, even though it routinely exceeds criteria for such classification, eliminating tracking requirements for its handling, storage, treatment and disposal. Public and private wastewater treatment facilities are not capable of processing the hazardous chemicals and radioactive materials produced by drilling activities.

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Landfills used for disposal of radioactive sludge from oil and gas drilling operations can contaminate them for thousands of years and its leachate can contaminate ground and surface waters used for public water supplies. Storage in closed containment tanks that eventually leak can also result in permanent groundwater and surface water contamination. The presence of highly radioactive materials and other fracking waste contaminants in local agricultural crops and their irrigation systems could cause irreparable damage to our food supplies and serious impacts to the economy.​

Spreading of brine-laced fracking wastewater or its byproducts for dust control and de-icing on roads increases the risk of exposure to drivers and pedestrians as well as contamination of nearby fields and surface waters. Road spreading can also contaminate groundwater, and increase the risk of inhalation and ingestion of radioactive materials and toxic chemicals by humans and livestock.

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The transportation, storage, disposal, sale or use of toxic waste from fracking operations has been banned in many counties. These laws generally include prohibitions on the acceptance of fracking waste at landfills or water treatment plants, as well as the purchase or use of "ice treatments" and other road surface materials that use highly contaminated brine or other byproducts from fracking operations.