There are many unanswered questions around fracking and in light of the evidence in this report, the question we ask is simply “are we in a conflict with a political policy based on industry lobbying, as experienced from the tobacco and gun lobbies, and community/public will?”.

If so, and drawing from experience, the protest and challenge will only increase as more areas are affected and climate change/plastics become even more mainstream, the costs and negative impacts will rise for communities, local economies and the public purse and the question of social licence, justice and democratic process, which does not come out in scientific harms, will become a dominant question/battle ground. In this compendium the opinions expressed by the authors and contributors have enabled us to provide a fully referenced compilation of evidence outlining the risks, impacts and potential harms of fracking. 

We are very grateful for the contributions from academia, community groups, NGO’s, campaigners and legal teams for the information included in this report that we have submitted to the National Audit Office in August.  

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