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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Industrial pollution and social deprivation: evidence and complexity in evaluating and responding to environmental inequality.
AU - Walker, Gordon
AU - Mitchell, Gordon
AU - Fairburn, John
AU - Smith, Graham
N1 - he final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Local Environment, 10 (4), 2005, © Informa Plc
PY - 2005/8
Y1 - 2005/8
N2 - The local impacts of industrial pollution can take many forms and�whilst uncertain in their scale, severity and distribution�are widely recognised. The question of who in society potentially experiences these impacts through living near to emission sources has been little explored, at least in the UK. This paper reports on a study carried out for the Environment Agency, which examined the distribution of sites coming within the Industrial Pollution Control (IPC) regime against patterns of deprivation. Our analysis provides evidence of a socially unequal distribution of IPC sites in England, with sites disproportionately located and clustered together in deprived areas and near to deprived populations. In discussing these results we emphasise the methodological limitations of this form of environmental justice analysis and the crucial differences between proximity, risk and impact. We also consider the distinction between inequality and injustice and the difficult policy questions which arise when evaluating evidence of environmental inequality, including potential grounds for policy intervention.
AB - The local impacts of industrial pollution can take many forms and�whilst uncertain in their scale, severity and distribution�are widely recognised. The question of who in society potentially experiences these impacts through living near to emission sources has been little explored, at least in the UK. This paper reports on a study carried out for the Environment Agency, which examined the distribution of sites coming within the Industrial Pollution Control (IPC) regime against patterns of deprivation. Our analysis provides evidence of a socially unequal distribution of IPC sites in England, with sites disproportionately located and clustered together in deprived areas and near to deprived populations. In discussing these results we emphasise the methodological limitations of this form of environmental justice analysis and the crucial differences between proximity, risk and impact. We also consider the distinction between inequality and injustice and the difficult policy questions which arise when evaluating evidence of environmental inequality, including potential grounds for policy intervention.
KW - industrial pollution environmental justice inequality
U2 - 10.1080/13549830500160842
DO - 10.1080/13549830500160842
M3 - Journal article
VL - 10
SP - 361
EP - 377
JO - Local Environment : The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability
JF - Local Environment : The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability
SN - 1354-9839
IS - 4
ER -