Associated Press Published

Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition Founder Dianne Bady Dies

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The Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition says its founder, Dianne Bady, has died of cancer.

The environmental and social justice group started by Bady in 1987 announced her death in a statement Tuesday. She was 67.

The statement says Bady died Monday at a hospice house in Huntington.

In 1987, Bady and others organized to thwart efforts by BASF Corp. to burn or bury toxic waste near Huntington.

Among her targets as director of Huntington-based OVEC, Bady tackled pollution, mountaintop removal mining and fought off construction of a pulp mill in Mason County.

OVEC executive director Natalie Thompson says Bady had “a tireless commitment to our environment and our people.”