FOR RELEASE:  July 28, 1994                  CONTACT:  Lee Scurry
                                                   (202) 208-3983
                                                        or
                                                   Barney Congdon
                                                   (504) 736-2595

          MMS AWARDS $177,000 TO LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY
(#40056)


     The Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service
(MMS) awarded up to $177,000 in matching funds to Louisiana State
University (LSU) under the Coastal Marine Institute (CMI) program
to study a federal sand source offshore Louisiana for beach
replenishment purposes, MMS officials announced today.

     "Isles Dernieres, part of Louisiana's barrier island system in
the central Gulf of Mexico, is retreating up to 65 feet a year
because of coastal erosion," said MMS Director Tom Fry.  "It's one
of the most rapidly deteriorating areas in the nation. Fortunately,
nearby Ship Shoal may be a source of clean quartz sand for beach
replenishment."

     During the two-year study on Ship Shoal, researchers will use
numerical modelling and scenarios involving various methods of sand
removal from the shoal to predict the effects on the wave and
current patterns in the area.  They will examine current and wave
patterns around Ship Shoal and the adjacent Louisiana barrier
islands, Fry said. 

     Since 1992, MMS has supported 16 research studies at LSU under
the CMI program, amounting to a contribution of approximately $2.5
million.  The $177,000 in MMS funding for this study will be in two
installments, with the second payment contingent on the
availability of funds.  MMS funding will be matched by LSU.

     Efforts to evaluate marine mineral resources in federal waters
have been initiated with all other states on the Gulf of Mexico and
the East Coast.  

     MMS administers federal offshore mineral programs and manages
the federal mineral royalty program.  The MMS Office of
International Activities and Marine Minerals (INTERMAR) is
responsible for the management of mineral resources other than
natural gas and oil -- such as sand and gravel -- on the Outer
Continental Shelf.

                              -MMS-
Subject: PR-07/28/94 LSU CMI/MMS Awards $177,000 to Louisiana State
University (#40056)