This story was updated at 10:15 EDT on June 7 to include comment from DuPont.

New Jersey environmentalists intensified a campaign this week to discourage the Legislature from allowing oil and gas companies to deposit wastewater in the Garden State.

The Sierra Club and other groups are concerned about waste from hydraulic fracturing, a production technique that shoots water, sand and chemicals deep underground to loosen up shale oil and gas. The resulting wastewater must be reused, stored or treated, and some of it from Pennsylvania, for example, can find its way to New Jersey plants.

Legislation from state Sen. Robert Gordon (D), paired with a bill from state Rep. Connie Wagner (D), would ban the shipping of fracking wastewater to New Jersey and treatment of the fluid in the state.

"The New Jersey Legislature needs to stand up and stop fracking waste from being dumped in New Jersey. We need to protect our waterways, roadways and protect the people of New Jersey from these toxic chemicals," New Jersey Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel said in a statement.

New Jersey is a prime target for wastewater disposal because of its close proximity to Pennsylvania's booming Marcellus Shale operations and its existing wastewater treatment facilities, such as the 1,455-acre DuPont Chambers Works complex in South Jersey.

Sierra Club New Jersey has charged that DuPont and other New Jersey facilities are not equipped to handle the chemicals used in fracking. DuPont issued a statement this week saying it exited the commercial wastewater treatment business at the end of March.

"New Jersey cannot allow its water supplies to be held captive by multi-national oil and gas companies," Tittel said. "We need this ban to protect New Jersey's waters, economy, and public health. We cannot allow special interests to destroy New Jersey's drinking water supplies in order to make a quick buck."

Republican Gov. Chris Christie has not taken a public position on the proposed ban.

"If and when it reaches the Governor's desk, it will receive the careful review of our Counsel's office prior to the Governor taking action," spokesman Kevin Roberts wrote in an email to EnergyWire.