Goodbye Patricia, Welcome Stephanie! - New Organizer Joins SSP Effort

We are pleased to welcome Stephanie Tyree as OVECs newest organizer and Sludge Safety Project Coordinator.

	Stephanie Tyree, left with OVEC staff Carol Warren, Maria Gunnoe, Dianne Bady, Robin Blakeman and Patricia Fenney, at an organizing team meeting.

Tyree is returning to her home state of West Virginia after receiving her bachelor of arts degree from the University of Pittsburgh and her law degree from New York University. 

She worked for two years as Environmental Policy Coordinator at WE ACT for Environmental Justice in New York, and we are thrilled that she is bringing her experience and skills to the OVEC team.

Over the past four years, it has been an absolute privilege for me to organize for OVEC and to be a part of the Sludge Safety Project. I have now stepped down as Sludge Safety Project Coordinator and am pursuing a new path toward rural primary medical care. 

Although it has been anything but easy to leave a place that has felt like home and to say good-bye to so many inspiring and loving people, something in me knows this is right, and I am excited to see how OVEC will grow in the coming years. 

The Sludge Safety Project team, including the SSP Citizen Committee, Coal River Mountain Watch, the WV Environmental Council and countless allies, has made real success possible. With the momentum we have created around the issues of public health and clean water, now is the perfect time for the new energy, creativity and fresh,