FOR RELEASE: February 17, 1995                CONTACT: Lee Scurry
                                                   (202) 208-3983
                                                   Barney Congdon
                                                   (504) 736-2595

MMS EXTENDS AGREEMENT WITH LOUISIANA TO STUDY SAND RESOURCES


     The U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management
Service (MMS) awarded an additional $32,637 to the Louisiana
State University (LSU), Coastal Studies Institute to study sand
resources for coastal restoration purposes, MMS officials
announced today.

     "In previous years, cooperative research efforts with
Louisiana have produced outstanding results," said MMS Acting
Director Cynthia Quarterman.  "Extending this project strengthens
that partnership and allows us to increase our knowledge about
sand extraction and successful restoration.

     "In Louisiana, research has focused on Ship Shoal, a large
sand source on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) offshore
Louisiana, as a source of material for the restoration of the
state's barrier islands," she said.  "This funding will provide
for the development of two Ship Shoal demonstration projects and
assessing the feasibility of using OCS sand resources to mitigate
continuing erosion on Isles Dernieres and Fourchon Beach, east of
Grand Isle."

     Including these funds, MMS has provided $111,553 to the LSU
Coastal Studies Institute toward the study of Ship Shoal since
1992.  Projects funded are:

-- In 1992, a geological assessment and feasibility evaluation
was conducted of Ship Shoal.  The study examined geological,
engineering, economic and physical environmental aspects of the
resource.

-- In 1993, efforts focused on identifying the most promising
sites on the shoal for sand removal, as well as detailed analysis
of dredging technology and sand removal procedures.

-- In 1994, the MMS Environmental Studies Program began funding
LSU to perform a wave climate modelling project and a physical 
oceanographic evaluation pertinent to possible extraction of
portions of the Ship Shoal sand resource.

     Similar efforts to evaluate marine mineral resources --
including other nonenergy minerals -- in federal waters have been
initiated with other states in the Gulf of Mexico and on the East
Coast.

     The MMS Office of International Activities and Marine
Minerals (INTERMAR) is responsible for the management of federal
OCS sand and other nonenergy mineral resources.  For more
information contact INTERMAR at (703) 787-1300.

     MMS is the federal agency that manages and regulates the
nation's natural gas, oil and other mineral resources on the
Outer Continental Shelf, and collects and disburses revenues from
offshore federal mineral leases and from onshore mineral leases
on federal and Indian lands.


                                   -MMS-