Brownfields Success Story

Attracting Wildlife to a 

Former Dumping Ground

Town of Coventry, Rhode Island

In the late 1990s, Coventry officials decided that a vacant property in the 

middle of town needed a serious makeover. The property at 100 Sandy Bottom 

Road was a staging site for construction projects that left behind asphalt 

spoils, concrete, rock, soil, machine parts and metal, among other debris. 

Discarded material had piled up at the dumping ground for decades, releasing 

contaminants into the environment.

Local officials saw greater potential for the blighted, neglected plot. They 

envisioned a sustainable resource that could enhance the community and 

protect local wildlife—a public park and a restored wetland habitat where people 

could escape the hustle and bustle of their daily lives.

“There was never a question of what we would do with the Sandy Bottom 

property,” said Guy Lefebvre, town director of parks and recreation.* “We 

acquired it to protect an open space in the heart of town.”

Though their vision was strong, funding was tight. It took many years of hard 

work and collaboration to pull off the project, but by working with federal, state 

and local partners, the town saw its vision come true on October 12, 2013, the day 

it opened the Sandy Acres Recreation Area.

The Opportunity

In the 1980s and 1990s the town began forming a plan to connect the Merrill 

S. Whipple Conservation Area it owned with the Sandy Bottom property and 

a nearby meadow to form a large, contiguous open space along the Pawtuxet 

River. Nestled between two state highways, the Sandy Bottom property is 

located along the main road that runs through the town’s business area. “The 

idea was to create an oasis and green space in the middle of all the commercial 

properties in that area,” said Lefebvre. The town acquired the Sandy Bottom 

property in March 2000.

*Guy Lefebvre passed away on May 16, 2015. As director of the Coventry Parks and Recreation Department 

for almost 38 years, he dedicated his career to the development and maintenance of parkland. 

Early excavation revealed concrete, asphalt, 

car parts and a stump dump.

EPA Grant Recipient:

Town of Coventry

Grant Type:

EPA Brownfield Community-Wide 

Assessment 

Former Use:

Vacant Property Used as an 

Unofficial Dumping Ground 

Current Use:

Sandy Acres Recreation Area

Crews redistribute screened soil to prepare 

the site for landscaping.
Guy Lefebvre

Director

Coventry Parks and 

Recreation Department

Located between 

two busy highways, 

the park is a 

showcase 

welcoming visitors

to the area.

“

“

A Parks and Recreation Department staffer 

makes final preparations before seeding. 

The completed wetland basin now provides 

an expanded flood plain.

The Funding

Lefebvre and his team knew that getting the funding together to redevelop 

the property was going to be a challenge. It might have taken much longer to 

do so without assistance from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). At that 

time, FWS was involved in remediating a nearby Superfund site, the Picillo Farm, 

where hazardous waste was disposed in several unlined trenches. As part of a 

settlement, the parties responsible for the contamination were required to pay 

restitution to several agencies involved in the cleanup. FWS wanted to use those 

restitution funds to help protect the environment in Coventry, and so the agency 

awarded $40,000 to the town to help restore the Sandy Bottom property.

With this news, the town applied to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA) for funding to assess the site in 2008. The Rhode Island Department of 

Environmental Management (RIDEM) awarded funds for wetland restoration 

and park construction, and FWS awarded an additional $143,000 grant to 

support flood plain expansion. The town also received funding to remediate 

the property from its sewer commission, which wanted to install a new sewer 

pumping station on the property. 

The Cleanup

In 2010, RIDEM conducted a series of environmental assessments and identified 

contamination that required remediation using its EPA Brownfields Assessment 

and 128(a) grants. The state agency also prepared a remedial action work plan 

for the property, which the town was required to follow.

Site improvements began in 2012. The town’s department of public works and 

department of parks and recreation cleared trees and removed contaminated 

soils and solid waste. The town encapsulated a specific area of contaminated 

soil in response to an environmental land use restriction instituted by RIDEM. 

To restore two acres of wetland, workers first removed material that was 

dumped next to the river and then constructed a storm water retention basin 

for runoff from the road. Next they hired a contractor to mitigate Phragmites, 

a common, rapidly growing reed that chokes waterways and can displace 

native wildlife.

After excavating and remediating the soil, and clearing the wetland basin, 

crews began landscaping the entire site, installing special wetland plantings, 

trees, shrubs and evergreens. Crews also constructed a walking path and guard 

rails, and the town is working to install a 400-foot-long elevated boardwalk 

that traverses a cedar swamp en route to the Whipple Conservation Area. 

The town also has plans to install amenities such as park benches and picnic 

tables by the end of 2015. A parking lot constructed at the entrance to the 

park can accommodate two dozen cars.
The Benefits

Wildlife inhabit the new park along the 

Pawtuxet River.

Years of hard work and collaboration 

brought the Sandy Acres Recreation 

Area to life.

The 20-acre Sandy Acres Recreation Area officially opened to the public for the 2013 

Columbus Day weekend. Visitors now can enjoy fishing along the Pawtuxet River, where 

RIDEM stocks trout in April and October each year. The town also plans to provide for 

canoe and kayak access from a launch site at the end of the trail. 

The park brings people together. Youth groups visit for hikes and to learn about local 

wildlife and the wetland. Plans are underway to expand community programs that will help 

maintain the park. Coventry already has an Adopt-a-Spot program to help the Parks and 

Recreation Department during spring cleaning around town. The town can expand that 

program to maintain the recreation area, too. The local River Watch group can expand its 

program to test the water quality at locations throughout the park.

The town met its goal of enhancing wildlife habitat: turkeys, deer, turtles and many species 

of waterfowl and songbirds all inhabit the park. The Pawtuxet River Authority gave the 

Town of Coventry a protection award for making the acquisition to protect wildlife.

The completed wetland basin now provides an expanded flood plain—a benefit the town’s 

residents take seriously after a storm in 2010 caused severe flooding in town. “There were 

31 inches of water in my basement,” said Lefebvre. “Knowing the capacity of the expanded 

floodplain, residents can rest assured that it will help prevent that type of flooding in town 

from happening again.”

Residents also can be assured by the added security that comes from transforming the 

formerly vacant property. Before the revitalization, anyone could access the property 

from any point along the quarter-mile of the adjacent road. Now, entry is limited to one 

driveway, and the property is sustained for only its intended use. The rules and regulations 

that govern public parks now govern the site, including curfews.

The park also increases commerce at nearby restaurants and shops. People who come to 

enjoy the park often stay in the area to have lunch or dinner, and those interested in fishing 

can stock up on gear at the tackle shop across the street.

For Lefebvre, the best part of the process was in seeing nature restored. “We’ve given 

people a beautiful space to enjoy.”

For more information: 

Visit the EPA Brownfields website 

at www.epa.gov/brownfields

or contact Jessica Dominguez

at (617) 918-1627 or

Dominguez.Jessica@epa.gov.

EPA 560-F-15-200

November 2015