Digital Extra

State health inspectors, who hoped to reopen this weekend much of the 250 square miles of fishing grounds closed by the North Cape Oil spill, decided yesterday that it's too early to declare the area safe.

"It's frustrating because we hoped to have a reopening," said Ernest Julian, chief of the state Health Department's Division of Food Protection. "But there definitely won't be a reopening this week."

There is some good news: Preliminary test results indicate that the water and fish in Block Island Sound are all clean enough to meet federal and state criteria.

The bad news comes from the lobsters.

While the meats examined from dozens of lobsters picked up at 25 locations around the spill site are all within guidelines set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, many of the lobsters smell oily.

"We had one picked up from at least three miles offshore, and it smelled moderately of oil," said Julian. It's not certain how long it will take to get the odors out.

Lobsters so far seem to be the biggest victims of the spill. Hundreds of thousands of dead lobsters of all ages have washed ashore since the North Cape ran aground Jan. 19.

(While the barge North Cape has been removed from Matunuck Beach, the tugboat Scandia remains aground -- an attempt to lift it into open water failed Wednesday when rings welded onto the tug snapped. Plans call for again trying to pull it off the beach tomorrow.)

Governor Almond's office yesterday issued a press release stressing the good news, that the closed area does seem to be cleaning itself.

"We won't be able to reopen any areas this week," the governor said. "But I am encouraged by the preliminary results from water quality samples and fish tissue samples."

Almond said the coastal ponds, which were hit heavily by the spill, haven't been tested completely yet. But concentrations of oil are expected to decline as the weather, bacteria and dispersal continue to dilute the spill.

The governor said most of the mussels collected in the last few days along the coast showed no evidence of oil contamination. But some mussels collected from the west wall of the Point Judith jetty were tainted with oil.

The Health Department's Julian said that some scientists around the country have complained that Rhode Island has set limits on pollutants in the closed area so strict that the same limits could force the closure of many other fisheries elsewhere that are now deemed safe.

But state officials insist on being conservative.

"There are two issues here," Julian said. "Food safety and public perception. The product has to be safe, but it also has to be of high quality. If the consumers feel the product isn't safe, they won't buy it. So it won't help to open the market too early."

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released some data yesterday that supported the state's findings.

The data, based on samples collected by the NOAA research vessel Albatross last week, concluded that fish collected in numerous trawls from Block Island Sound were similar to what has been caught before, in terms of quantities and species.

"Sniff" tests of the fish showed no presence of petroleum residues. Laboratory analyses of the same fish are still under way.

Trawls of zooplankton, tiny forms of marine life, also turned up quantities similar to what has been found during previous trawls, indicating that the spill didn't cause a widespread loss of marine life offshore.

Various state and federal agencies have collected hundreds of samples of water, fish and sediments during the last two weeks to help determine when it will be safe to reopen the fishery.

The results are being compared to a complex array of guidelines established for the water and various forms of marine life by a panel comprising representatives from the state Departments of Health and Environmental Management.

Julian said others helping prepare the protocol are from the FDA, NOOA and the underwriters representing Eklof Marine, the barge company. The insurance is expected to pay for the testing, and for the fishermen's losses while the fishing grounds are closed.

Lawyers for the underwriters are still reviewing the protocol, Julian said, but he said he doubted any substantive changes would be made.

Robert Vanderslice, a risk assessment expert at the Health Department, said the underwriters have been cooperating fully.

"Naturally, they don't want to have to pay for something that's not necessary. But I think they agree that if we aren't careful and we destroy the industry, who have we served? But at the same time, we don't want this to stay closed a day later than necessary," he said.

Information on the fishing closure areas can be obtained by calling 277-2900.

Fishermen or seafood businesses harmed by the oil spill may obtain assistance by going to the Oliver Stedman Government Complex on Tower Hill Road in Wakefield. They also may log a claim by calling Turnabout Services Ltd. at 1-800-995-4045.