Our community shows up to support our mission and answers our calls to action time and time again. The annual Swim is no exception—in fact, nowhere does the Save The Bay community show up in greater or more visible numbers.
Dredging can be a very damaging process, but done correctly with the environment in mind, it can benefit development projects. Save The Bay has fought to protect the Bay from dredge plans that would have damaged the environment for many years, and will continue to do so to protect the Bay and its habitats from being buried in sedimentary spoils.
A fraction of the spoils of this dredge would fill in 500 acres—roughly 380 football fields—of the Bay around Quonset to create new land for pavement. The Draft Master Plan began to circulate in 1997, and Save The Bay caught wind of the impending disaster that could unfold if Quonset’s “megaport” became a reality.
When a twin-reactor nuclear power plant was planned for construction at Rome Point, North Kingstown in 1972, Save The Bay sprung into action, rallying Rhode Island residents against the proposed facility and saving one of North Kingstown’s gorgeous nature preserves from being bulldozed over.
Fifty years ago, Save The Bay was founded by a group of Rhode Island residents who, concerned about the risks of oil spills in Narragansett Bay, fought hard to stop the proposed construction of an oil refinery in Tiverton.
In January 1970, at the end of a five-hour town council meeting, a sole voice of opposition stood against an otherwise unanimous vote to renew a permit. The renewal, requested by the Northeast Petroleum Refinery, Inc. was the company’s first step toward building an oil refinery in Tiverton, R.I. The voice of opposition belonged to a new councilwoman, Louise Durfee.
*Please note: Be sure to access the Johnson & Wales University Harborside Campus through the main entrance on Harborside Blvd. Your GPS may suggest taking Ernest Street to JWU’s Shipyard Street entrance, but that route requires a key card for entry.
From Route I-95 North or South, take Exit 18 (Thurbers Avenue). Head downhill on Thurbers Avenue to US Route 1A (Allens Avenue). Turn right onto Allens Ave. Continue southbound on Allens Ave. into Cranston, where Allens Ave. becomes Narragansett Blvd. Turn left onto Harborside Blvd. at the traffic light by the Shell gas station. Follow Harborside Blvd. through the Johnson & Wales Harborside Campus. At the end of Harborside Blvd., turn right onto Save The Bay Drive. Save The Bay Drive becomes a circular, one-way roadway as you approach the Bay Center. Parking is available in four guest lots after you pass the main building. Enter the building through the main entrance.