FOR RELEASE:  June 17, 1994                CONTACT:  Lee Scurry
                                                  (202)208-3983

                  MMS AWARDS $110,660 CONTRACT 
              TO UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA, FAIRBANKS (40039)

     The Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service
(MMS) announced today that a $110,660 contract has been awarded to
the University of Alaska at Fairbanks (UAF) under the Coastal
Marine Institute (CMI) program.  To date, MMS and UAF have each
contributed nearly $1 million to fund the CMI program.

     "MMS is pleased to continue this partnership with the state of
Alaska," said MMS Director Tom Fry.  "Scientific data collected
through cooperative efforts like the CMI program provide valuable
information to federal and state resource managers on which to base
decisions about natural gas and oil activities.

     "This most recent contract will provide for a 2-year study on
water circulation patterns in the central Chukchi Sea," said Fry. 
"The results will generate needed information for applying the
oil-spill risk assessment model."

     The MMS/UAF study will be complemented by simultaneous field
studies sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the Office of
Naval Research, and the Japan Marine Science and Technology Center,
Fry said.  The collaborating researchers will collect similar
oceanic measurements from Bering Strait, Barrow Canyon, and
Herald/Hope Sea Valley.

     MMS administers federal offshore mineral programs and manages 
the federal mineral royalty program.

     The MMS Environmental Studies Program has funded more than
$600 million in scientific research and marine habitat studies
since 1974.  More than 90 percent of these studies are performed
under cooperative agreements with state and federal research
organizations, academic institutions, and private industry.

                              -MMS-
Subject: PR-06/17/94 Univ. of AK Contract/MMS Awards #110,660
Contract to University of Alaska, Fairbanks (#40039)