Environmental justice and fracking: A review

Extensive research over the last five years has demonstrated that those who live near hydraulic fracturing wells and their associated infrastructure are at risk of a variety of health problems. Along with knowledge of these risks comes the ethical question of who is bearing these risks and how decisions are made about who bears the risks. This article reviews how environmental justice scholars have addressed the ethical concerns raised by the fracking boom. It draws out how this work relates to the three main types of environmental justice: distributive, procedural and recognition-based environmental justice.