Veronica Coptis

Veronica’s path to environmental activism began as a teenager. Growing up in western Pennsylvania, she was intimately familiar with how coal mining has the ability to unite a community, yet destroy the land around it. She lived adjacent to the Bailey coal mine, the largest underground mine in the country at the time. The mine had numerous surface processing facilities and coal refuse areas, which she described as “valleys filled with toxic waste.” When she was a teenager, a coal refuse area was installed next to her home. It opened her eyes to how a company could destroy hundreds of acres with minimal communication to the community. This destruction drove Veronica to rally against the coal industry. Looking back, she realizes that she had a unique privilege to speak out. Her parents were not dependent on the coal company, unlike most families in the area. Her passion for the environment drove her desire to go to college. She wanted to study biology, in order to find ways to save wildlife in areas impacted by the coal industry. However, her time in college was not easy. She was a first-generation student and found herself in an abusive relationship during her first couple of years. She ended up living with her parents after leaving the situation and managed to finish her degree. Unfortunately, Veronica graduated from college during the economic recession of the late 2000s and her grades were not high enough to pursue a graduate degree. She began waiting tables at a diner in her hometown and found herself developing friendships with several regulars. People would talk about working in the mines and shared stories of how the coal company would exploit them. They felt there was nothing they could do, since the coal company had a huge amount of control over the town, both economically and politically. In the fall of 2009, there was a massive fish kill in a creek near the town (Earth Island). A regular in the restaurant told Veronica about the kill. He was an avid fisherman and wanted to know what had happened. Near the creek was a fracking site, which used a saline solution to fracture rocks deep underground. The combination of water withdrawal, a dry autumn, and illegal dumping of the saline solution led the creek to reach seawater levels of salinity. The fracking equipment also introduced an unfamiliar species of saltwater algae to the creek, causing an algal bloom to occur. The bloom released a toxin that killed fish in the creek. This opened Veronica’s eyes to how small things working together can make huge impacts. She began to Google non-profits and joined an organization that worked against fracking. Eventually she joined the Center for Coalfield Justice, where she worked to organize communities against powerful coal and fracking companies. She credits numerous mentors from various organizations for her leadership and organizing skills.