By Tom Schuster, Director, Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter
In June, we had to say farewell to Kelsey Krepps, Senior Campaign Organizer for the Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign. Since joining the Sierra Club in early 2020, Kelsey has led most of our state-level work, standing up to the gas industry, including on pipelines, LNG proposals, the fracking moratorium in the Delaware Basin, and especially accountability for abandoned wells. Though not directly an employee of the Chapter, she worked so closely with us that she felt like one. Unfortunately, the Campaign had to downsize, and Kelsey’s position was one of those eliminated. We are grateful for Kelsey’s hard work and friendship over the past five years, and we’re keeping her in our thoughts during this life change.
This week, we also bid adieu to Western Pennsylvania Field Organizer Qiyam Ansari. Qiyam was working primarily on pollution reduction at industrial sites in Butler County and the Mon Valley, as well as assisting with our gas accountability work. He is leaving to pursue full-time work for the non-profit Valley Clean Air Now, which he helped found, and will now be its first Executive Director. We wish Qiyam the best as he continues to fight for the health of his community against corporate polluters.
Both transitions will require the remaining staff to adjust workloads, and we will be phasing out some work, and many of those decisions are still in process. Our priorities in the near term will be to continue our work on fracking waste accountability and protecting against further well abandonment.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at tom.schuster@sierraclub.org.
This blog was included as part of the August 2025 Sylvanian newsletter. Please click here to check out more articles from this edition!