Digital Extra

His mission was to detect whether South County's sandy beaches still harbored an oily stench from January's North Cape barge oil spill.

His only equipment: a 4 1/2-foot shovel and his nose.

The clink, clink, clink of the metal blade against wet pebbles yielded a foot-deep hole within seconds.

The scientist scooped up a handful of sand, sniffed and proclaimed: "There was no odor or sign of any oil. It's time to go to the beach."

Here at the Capt. Roger Wheeler State Beach, the state Department of Environmental Management's test was as much symbolism as science.

Lingering perceptions that the oil spill has marred South County's coastline and initial fears that the state's tourism industry could be set back $30 million to $60 million are prompting state agencies such as DEM to reassure Rhode Islanders and visitors alike that everything's fine.

Indications, so far, show the spill's aftermath didn't turn out to be the economic nightmare that was previously predicted.

The state tourism division boosted its marketing budget to nearly $700,000, almost double its previous spending plan, to target new potential tourists. It aired national radio ads, created a newsletter and traveled the Internet to pitch the state to vacation seekers.

Only Moonstone fails test

As a result, area rental agents say vacation home rentals are up. Restaurants are gearing up for a busy season and out-of-staters like Albert Dacko of Franklin, Mass., are trying to get a head start on the coming Memorial Day holiday by breaking out the beach towels early.

"I didn't think it would affect this point," Dacko said of the oil spill's impact on his favorite spot near the dunes of Roger Wheeler Beach.

In contrast to the suffocating heat back home, the temperature there hovered around 60 degrees; Dacko even took a quick dip in the water, which barely registered a nippy 50 degrees. "I jumped in as soon as I got here," he said.

Saturday is opening day for the state's beaches, which will have lifeguards on duty and workers to collect the parking fees: $4 per vehicle for state residents on weekdays; $5 on weekends and holidays. Nonresidents pay $8 per car on weekdays and $10 on weekends and holidays.

All state beaches will open daily at 8 a.m., weather permitting, except Misquamicut Beach in Westerly, which will be open only on weekends through June 15 and daily thereafter.

"It's important the beaches are aesthetically pleasing and this is the best test you've got," said Mulhare, a supervising engineer with DEM's division of site remediation, of his sand-to-nose test.

Mulhare and Paula Therrien, a DEM principal environmental scientist, visited seven beaches yesterday and sniffed 17 sand samples. Only one site, Moonstone Beach, had a scent of the home heating oil that gushed out of the North Cape barge four months ago.

The barge and the tugboat, Scandia, were grounded off Moonstone's shores, leaking the highest concentration of oil into the federal wildlife sanctuary there.

The other test sites, Charlestown Breachway, Green Hill Beach, South Kingstown Town Beach and Mary Carpenter Beach, were retested yesterday because slight traces of oil were detected in January and April.

No oil in sight

DEM also tested Roger Wheeler and the Salty Brine State Beach in Galilee yesterday because the state wants to reassure the public those popular beaches are clean even though no oil was detected there in April, Therrien said.

Six-year-old Meagan Tikiryan of North Providence didn't need an official DEM test to tell her the sand was good enough for her castles.

Her mom, Kelly, said she and her husband, Arthur, were prepared to turn their car around if the beach looked dirty from the oil spill.

"I assumed the sand would probably be black," Kelly Tikiryan said. "I was surprised when I came down here. Look, even the shells, they're not even covered."