It was one of the region's biggest news stories for more than four years, but the dire TV broadcasts of destruction at the island's ocean-battered beach center have vanished of late.

That's good news for Plum Islanders.

More than a year after millions of dollars were spent to dump 150,000 cubic yards on the fast-eroding beach, observers say it's clear that the effort has been a success — or at the very least, it bought the beach some much-needed time.

"It seems to be rather stable down there, but I do keep my fingers crossed," said Doug Packer, Newbury's conservation agent and the leading local authority on the beach erosion problem. "Without that (beach renourishment), we wouldn't have had much time left."