Researchers may access born digital materials by visiting the link attached to each item (the web crawl) or by requesting to view the material (the newsletters or the web crawl) in person by appointment or remotely by contacting the West Virginia & Regional History Center reference department at https://westvirginia.libanswers.com/wvrhc.
Gift of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, 2022 February 11.
Dianne Bady founded the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (OVEC) in 1987 as a social and environmental justice organization. Its organization was the result of a successful grassroots campaign to stop the BASF Corporation's plan to incinerate toxic waste in Ironton, Ohio, a low-income community near Huntington, West Virginia. Per OVEC's mission statement: "Our mission is to organize and maintain a diverse grassroots organization dedicated to the improvement and preservation of the environment and communities through education, grassroots organizing and coalition building, leadership development, strategic litigation and media outreach. Our work encompasses much of West Virginia and the Ohio River Valley." In the ensuing years, OVEC led fights against the Apple Grove Paper and Pulp Mill in Mason County, WV; against mountaintop removal mining in West Virginia and Kentucky; and for clean air, clean water and clean and fair elections. OVEC was dissolved in 2021 November due to retirements and internal personnel issues.
From OVEC's initial success, an organization grew that eventually included both full and part time office staff, a board of directors, and numerous volunteers. OVEC attracted a cadre of very passionate environmentalists, who formed the backbone of the organization's leadership. The leadership team was initially three women: Dianne Bady (1950-2017), Janet Keating, and Laura Forman (1962-2001).
Gradually, additional people joined OVEC including Vivian Stockman and Maria Gunnoe, who became notable OVEC organizers. Larry Gibson was another important individual, who literally gave his life in opposition to mountaintop removal mining. OVEC also drew into its orbit many other individuals who were interested in social and environmental justice, including former West Virginia Secretary of State Ken Hechler, Doris "Granny" Haddock, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and many others.
[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition Records, A&M 4661, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.
Records of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (OVEC), a social and environmental justice organization that operated out of Huntington, WV (circa 1987 to 2022). Its activities are documented through the materials in this collection; formats include audiovisual materials, digital files, the organization's website, printed materials, ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, newsletters, reports, correspondence, legal briefs, general office files, artifacts, and posters. Subjects covered in the collection include environmental policy, justice, and science in general; mountaintop removal mining and Kayford Mountain; Clean Elections (or Clean Money Election Reform); coal sludge and related disasters; fracking; and efforts to stop the proposed construction of Parsons & Whittemore Incorporated's Apple Grove Paper & Pulp Mill in Apple Grove, Mason County, WV, among others.
Collection does not include a box 35, 69, 70, 81, or 82.
Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.
Audiovisual recordings must be digitized for research access. Researchers must contact the West Virginia & Regional History Center reference department at https://westvirginia.libanswers.com/wvrhc.
Researchers may access born-digital materials by requesting to view the materials in person by appointment or remotely by contacting the West Virginia & Regional History Center reference department at https://westvirginia.libanswers.com/wvrhc.
Series 1 consists of mixed audiovisual and media materials (1990-2012). The formats in this series include CDRs, DVDs, audiocassettes and reel-to-reel tapes, VHS, VHS-C, Mini DV tapes, and 3.5-inch floppy discs.
Series 1 includes news broadcasts (
Audiovisual recordings must be digitized for research access. Researchers must contact the West Virginia & Regional History Center reference department at https://westvirginia.libanswers.com/wvrhc.
Series 2 consists of the materials in the OVEC Special Collections Library. The OVEC Special Collection Library was shelved in their Huntington, West Virginia office, where a placard stated: "All the books, DVDS, and magazines on these shelves mention OVEC's work, or our volunteers and staff, or feature OVEC photos."
Series 2 subject matter includes mountaintop removal mining, wetlands policy, sludge ponds, environmental policy, environmental justice, environmental communication, environmental science, global warming, and Appalachian women. Additionally, there are various official publications and printed ephemera, in particular corporate reports, clean air task force and cerulean warbler information, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and other organizations' newsletters, newspapers, and newspaper clippings.
Series 3 has numerous photographs of OVEC leaders, members, and other important individuals. They include Dianne Bady, Janet Keating, Laura Forman, Vivian Stockman, Judy Bonds, Ken Hechler, James Weekley, George Daugherty, Larry Gibson, Marie Gunnoe, Dan Kash, Doris "Granny D" Haddock, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Art Kirkendoll, Don Blankenship and many others.
Series 3 also includes four Paul Justice sepia toned photographs of the Martin County, Kentucky sludge spill, which occurred on 2000 October 11 (see Oversized Folder 18). This series also includes a dozen foam core mounted photographs of various scenes, including mountaintop removal, fracking, and other related images (see Oversized Folders 19-22). Additionally, there are half a dozen encapsulated photographs of mountaintop removal, the Big John dragline, and similar images (see Oversized Folder 17). Lastly, there are two framed panoramic photographs by photographer Manali Sibthorpe (from 2008), the first titled "Larry and Dog" and the second titled "Mary and Pauline" for Mary Miller and Pauline Canterberry (see Items 1 and 2).
Series 3 includes photo albums as well. This includes a photo book of OVEC activities. One highlight is a photo album (see box 28) dedicated to the life and OVEC activities of Laura Forman (1962-2001). Forman died of heart failure in 2001 December at the Corps of Engineers Huntington office at a rally protesting mountaintop removal.
Series 4 consists of newspaper clippings about OVEC endeavors, culled from local newspapers. These newspapers include the
Researchers may access born digital materials by visiting the link attached to each item (the web crawl) or by requesting to view the material (the newsletters or the web crawl) in person by appointment or remotely by contacting the West Virginia & Regional History Center reference department at https://westvirginia.libanswers.com/wvrhc.
Series 5 consists of a complete set of OVEC printed newsletters as well as an archived copy of the OVEC website, both of which document the organization's activities.
The newsletters include protest and rally coverage, photographs, calendars of events, member news, member and donor recognition, topical cartoons, grant information, conferences, editorials and letters to the editor, West Virginia legislative news, and calls for action. Additionally, board and staff member information is listed in each issue.
Initially titled OVEC News in 1991 April, it became
Series 6 consists of materials related to OVEC's efforts to stop the proposed construction of Parsons & Whittemore Incorporated's Apple Grove Paper & Pulp Mill in Apple Grove, Mason County, West Virginia. Controversy over the project began in 1989, and after successful efforts by OVEC, plans for the pulp mill were scrapped in 1997. The opposition to the pulp mill was rooted in many concerns, especially the release of carcinogenic dioxins into the Ohio River and into the air (dioxin, a carcinogenic chemical, is a byproduct of the chlorine bleaching process used in the pulping process). Other concerns were the pulp mills' outdated technology, the unregulated harvesting of the regional timber stands, closed-door tax breaks, other concessions to be granted by the State of West Virginia to Parsons & Whittemore, and the employment of non-West Virginia workers.
Series 6 materials include OVEC press releases and fact sheets, OVEC and non-OVEC newsletters, regional newspapers and newspaper clippings regarding the pulp mill (including investigative articles, editorials and letters to the editor) and Parsons & Whittemore documents and correspondence. Additionally, there are Environmental Protection Agency documents and reports, and studies regarding the effects of dioxins on humans and animals. Additionally, there is general information regarding pulps mills worldwide, materials related to the American timber industry and the paper products industry.
Series 7 consists of materials related to OVEC's Clean Elections (or Clean Money Election Reform) initiative. OVEC recognized that coal mine owners and operators, bankers, insurance executives, timber barons, and other industrial interests donated large sums of money to West Virginia political campaigns and in effect bought state level elections. Clean Money was a broad-based initiative intended to empower voters by removing big corporate money from politics and eliminating election buying, increasing transparency and accountability in elections, election reform, and non-partisan judiciary. Additionally, voter education and the protection of West Virginians' right to vote were part of this initiative.
Series 7 materials include legal papers, newspaper articles and clippings, Clean Election legislation, correspondence, and WV Clean Election Act draft documents. Additionally, this series includes materials related to other states' efforts to provide Clean Elections. The states are Massachusetts, Maine, Arizona, and Wisconsin.
Series 8 consists of materials related to OVEC's efforts to stop mountaintop removal mining (MTR), one of its most important missions. In practice, MTR mining used explosives to obliterate mountain tops, revealing the coal seams below for extraction. Overburn or spoils from the process were then dumped into the surrounding streams as "valley fill." Valley fills disrupted the natural dissipation of rainwater and led to catastrophic flooding downstream. A secondary result of MTR mining was the need for containment ponds to store coal sludge; a thick slurry of coal dust and water left over from the coal cleaning process. The failure of these containment ponds also led to catastrophic flooding.
Series 8 is comprised of many types of materials documenting the destructive nature of MTR. They include newspapers and newspaper clippings, magazines, and journals. Additionally, there are materials related to Blair Mountain, Spruce Fork No. 1 Mine, water quality issues from MTR, Mine Sludge Safety Project, Cumulative Hydrological Impact Assessment (CHIA), and Office of Surface Mining materials. Lastly, there are oral histories, a set of letters from San Francisco, California Third Graders opposing MTR, and a file entitled "No Brains Emails," essentially hate email sent to OVEC.
Individuals involved in the fight against MTR are represented in this series: Larry Gibson, Marie Gunnoe, Jack Spadaro, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and others.
A highlight of this series is the publication
Series 9 consists of OVEC office files kept by Dianne Bady, Vivian Stockman, Janet Keating, and other OVEC personnel. These files date from OVEC's founding in 1987 to its disbandment in 2022.
Series 9 covers a wide range of materials, touching on all OVEC's activities. These materials include newspapers and newspaper clippings, journals and magazines, correspondence, fact sheets, legal documents and briefs, grants for 2011-2012, the annual Tree Huggers Ball fundraiser posters and other materials, and OVEC Christmas ornament ordering information. Additional materials pertain to leadership training, grant writing, conducting oral and radio interviews, and strategic planning.
Series 9 files also include documents related to Bakken Oil, cemetery destruction caused by mountaintop removal mining, endangered rivers, Christians for the Mountains, Commission on Religion in Appalachia (CORA), Ohio River Valley Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO), watershed and stream water testing reports, and others. Box 74 contains materials related to Ashland Oil Company pollution, Huntsman Chemical Plant, the fracking industry, and Appalachian Storage Hub.
One of the highlights in Series 9 is Janet Keating's letter to Pope Francis in 2015, urging him to come to West Virginia to see the destruction of mountaintop removal mining firsthand.
Please note that this series contains materials that may also be represented in other series.
Series 10 consists of OVEC artifacts and ephemeral items. The artifacts include OVEC staff trophy awards, engraved recognition plaques, certificates of achievement, pinback buttons, and various bumper stickers for various causes. Additionally, there are a number of ephemeral items including OVEC Christmas ornaments (1999-2000) (see Boxes 79 & 88), Masseypoly (Monopoly board game parody) (see Box 86), a Joe Manchin marionette doll (see Box 76), Vivian Stockman's Ms. Renewable Energy top hat and printed coal cash (see Box 75), and a solid foam model of Kayford Mountain with removable mountaintops and insertable valley fills (see Box 85). There are also miscellaneous rolled OVEC banners and environmental posters (see Box 91).