Announcing the 2019 Sentinel Award Winners

Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Community Sentinel Award for Environmental Stewardship! After being nominated by peers this summer, recipients were selected by a committee of five community defense leaders and environmental champions from around the country.

Read brief descriptions of these inspiring individuals below, and make sure to register to reserve your seat at the Sentinel Award reception and ceremony, where we invite you to join us in honoring the awardees’ courageous environmental stewardship. This event will take place on October 22nd, 2019 at the Beaver Station Cultural & Event Center.  The 2019 Community Sentinel Award for Environmental Stewardship winners are, in alphabetical order:  

Ron Gulla, a former employee of the oil and gas industry who has been raising awareness around fracking’s destructive impacts on soil and water resources since he experienced them firsthand on his property in Pennsylvania; 

Sharon Lavigne, the founder of RISE St. James, a faith-based environmental and social justice organization dedicated to protecting St. James Parish, Louisiana from the toxic, cancer-causing petrochemical industry;

Allie Rosenbluth, a dedicated community activist who has spent years coordinating a huge grassroots rural coalition opposing Pembina’s proposed Jordan Cove liquified natural gas export terminal and Pacific Connector fracked gas pipeline in Southern Oregon; and

Melissa Troutman, a film director and investigative journalist whose extensive work has changed the landscape and narrative on fracking, influenced policy, and inspired countless individuals to take action in their own communities.

We are also honored to recognize the following two individuals posthumously for the Legacy of Heroes award: 

Bill Hughes, an activist who experienced many detrimental effects of fracking in his home of Wetzel County, West Virginia, and who responded by educating thousands of people on the harms of the oil and gas industry; and

Ricky Allen Roles, an inspiring individual who spoke out against the myriad of health impacts that he experienced as a result of 19 fracked wells on his property in Colorado.

You can find more details on the Sentinel Award ceremony and register by clicking the button below.

 

 

Photographs in the heading of this post, clockwise from top left are from: SustainUS, UU Ministry for Earth, Public Herald, and Hope For Peace.