RIDEM fines Bowdish Lake Campground $82,500 for alleged environmental violations

GLOCESTER/BURRILLVILLE – The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management has fined a northern Rhode Island campground more than $80,000 for what the agency says are violations going back many decades, including alteration of several acres of wetlands and ponds, and the outdoor storage of nearly two cubic miles of solid waste.

Bowdish Lake Campground was issued the fines in a 62-page Notice of Violation sent this month to Tillinghast Holding Company.

The notice lists some 13 violations in 10 locations at the campground, comprised of roughly 200 forested acres of land, including property that crosses from the entrance on Putnam Pike in Glocester into neighboring Burrillville, the 300-acre Bowdish Lake, and 30-acre Wilbur Pond. First opened in 1973, Bowdish Lake Campground features some 400 campsites, six bathhouses, a recreation hall, playgrounds, tennis and basketball courts, miles of hiking trails and numerous fishing docks, according to the business’s website.

It seems, however, that many of the facilities were built without regard for environmental regulations, at least according to RIDEM.

RIDEM points to “at least 54 unauthorized docks and other associated improvements,” within Bowdish Lake, and countless other alterations within a swamp, riverbank wetlands, perimeter wetlands and special aquatic sites, creating disturbance in around 116,000-square-feet of protected area.

“The April 8 inspection also revealed approximately 1,097 cubic yards of solid waste deposited on the ground, which consisted of a mobile home, used tires, trash cans, truck cabs, piping, tanks, at least three trailers, at least 25 trucks of various types, at least five tractors, pontoons, a conveyer apparatus, fencing, a container, a roller, ten 55 gallon steel drums, a dump truck body, a generator, vehicle engines, vehicle parts and other mixed solid waste,” notes one section of the document, referencing an inspection of the campground in 2021. “Vegetation was growing in and around the waste.”

Alfred and Anna Tillinghast acquired most of the land that makes up the campground between 1972 and 1980, and Tillinghast Holding Company was organized as a partnership in 2005. Annual reports filed with the Secretary of State list John Tillinghast as vice president starting in 1999, and president of the business beginning in 2020.

A state Supreme Court decision issued in a previous dispute between the owners and RIDEM notes that the campground had a rocky relationship with environmental regulators from the start.

“A long-simmering dispute between the parties in this case has been in marked contrast to the tranquil natural environment,” notes an opinion issued by Justice Francis Flaherty in 2014.

According to the decision, RIDEM sent it’s first notice – for violation of the Freshwater Wetlands Act – to the owners of Bowdish Lake Campground in 1975.

“Over a 25-year period, a pattern developed whereby DEM would notify the Tillinghasts of alleged environmental violations, both formally and informally, defendants would respond with an explanation, and DEM would not take further action for several years,” Flaherty noted.

That lawsuit centered around the establishment of five campsites located in Burrillville near Wilbur Pond, and a special master was ultimately appointed by the court to oversee restoration of the area, as well as submission of a new application for creation of the sites to RIDEM.

In the latest matter, RIDEM notes it issued a cease and desist order in 2021 for altering freshwater wetlands – violations “separate and apart,” from the previous issues now being overseen by the special master.

The document points to clearing, filling and excavating of materials including “components of finished structures, parking areas, abandoned vehicles, construction materials and equipment, discarded tanks, tires, auto parts,” and more. The NOV alleges that the owners moved soil, trees and other vegetation to create campsites; constructed a building over a stream; and eliminated most of the wetlands in one area “in apparent effort to create an open waterbody feature,” among many other issues.

John Tillinghast, it notes, “oversaw all work performed at the property since at least 1974.” The notice points to aerial photos showing additional alterations as recently as 2023.

“Prior to the alterations, the swamp, riverbank wetland, perimeter wetland and special aquatic sites were entirely undisturbed,” states the notice, signed by David Chopy on behalf of Christina Hoefsmit, RIDEM deputy administrator of the Office of Compliance and Inspection. “Respondents did not take reasonable steps to prevent the noncompliance and have taken no steps to mitigate the noncompliance.”

The business is ordered to immediately cease and desist the alterations and restore the land by removing all unauthorized fill, planting trees and shrubs and more. A penalty summary shows that the campground was fined either $10,000 or $5,000 for each of the locations where wetlands were affected, and $12,500 for the pile of solid waste located on the property.

The notice instructs the owner to pay an $82,500 fine within 30 days, with $70,000 made payable to the General Treasury Water and Air Protection Program, and $10,000 to the Environmental Response Fund.