Fenceline Network
A network for communities living beside industrial chemical contamination of any kind.
The idea
‘Fenceline community’ is an established environmental-justice term for people who live right beside an industrial site. They are often the first to be exposed to what comes off it, and the last to be heard.
Chemical contamination does not respect topic boundaries. A community may be dealing with PFAS, solvents, heavy metals, smoke or waste from the same fence line. The Fenceline Network joins together community groups living beside industrial chemical contamination of any kind, anywhere in the world, so they can find each other and learn from each other.
It is a network of community groups and of networks, not of individuals. It is free, and no money is asked for or handled.
Three tiers
- Fenceline Network (this site): all industrial chemical contamination, worldwide.
- PFAS Communities: communities living with PFAS, the ‘forever chemicals’, and the wider contamination that comes with them, worldwide. It is a member network of the Fenceline Network.
- PFAS Communities UK: the same for the UK. It is a member of PFAS Communities, and so part of the whole family.
A UK PFAS group can therefore be in all three. A group beside any other kind of contamination can join the Fenceline Network directly.
How it works
- A public directory. We keep a shared, public list of community groups and member networks.
- Listed first, from public information. We add a group as Listed only from a public page we have opened. Each entry links to its source and shows the date we checked it.
- Member when the group says so. A group or network becomes a Member when it asks to join. Members can then show a badge on their own site that links back to the directory.
Listed and Member
Listed
Compiled by us from public information. The group has not (yet) confirmed it. Shows the public source and the date checked.
If it is your group, you can confirm it, correct it, or ask us to remove it.
Member
The group or network itself has asked to join. It controls its entry and can show a membership badge.
The founding member network is PFAS Communities.
Today the directory has 1 member network and 38 listed community groups. We would rather publish a short, checked list than a long one we cannot stand behind.
Started by residents
The network was started in October 2026 by residents behind Hillhouse Watch in Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancashire, UK. It is independent of Hillhouse Watch.
Who can join
Membership is free and open to resident-led and community groups, and to networks of them. NGOs are welcome as supporters.