Thanks to one person, Brant Island Cove no longer looks like it's covered with snow during the summertime.

From pieces as small as a grain of rice to chunks nearly eight feet long, Styrofoam litter had clogged marsh soils and smothered grasses of the once-beautiful area.

In 2013, the extensive pollution was photographed and brought to the attention of Buzzards Bay Coalition by Horace Field, former Mattapoisett shellfish warden and harbormaster. For his diligence in its cleanup, Field won the Buzzards Bay Coalition's Guardian Award on Thursday night.

Buzzards Bay Coalition works to improve the health of the bay's ecosystem through the efforts of nearly 1,800 volunteers along the 18-city watershed.

Hesitant to accept all the credit, Field said the cleanup “all happened thanks to the Coalition.”

Turns out, it was a joint effort that made the restoration a reality.

“I first put together a notebook and wrote a letter to the Selectmen. I have yet to receive even acknowledgment that they received it. That was in 2005,” he said. “So I tried the Coalition and, of course, I got an immediate response with that.”

He was insistent that the Coalition witness the pollution first-hand.

“On several, cold winter mornings, Horace and I, together with a small army of legal interns from the Harvard Law School Environmental Litigation Clinic traveled the marsh, documenting the extent of the debris,” said Senior Attorney Korrin Petersen.

They found out that the Styrofoam was coming from floats at Leisure Shores Marina. For at least two years, Field stood with the Coalition during Conservation Commission meetings. The marina was finally compelled to upgrade its floats.

Within a year, the marina placed encapsulated floats and the pollution source was cut off. Soon after, the pieces of Styrofoam were picked up.

“That cove is a beautiful place now,” Field said. “You really should've seen it, it was a mess.”