FOR RELEASE: October 2, 1995               CONTACT:  Tom DeRocco
                                                   (202) 208-3983
               
                                     
                    INTERIOR DEPARTMENT TO STUDY USE OF
                   OFFSHORE SAND FOR BEACH RESTORATION 

     The Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service
(MMS) today announced the signing of a cooperative agreement with
the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS).  The agreement
calls for an extensive examination of the potential environmental
effects of moving sand from the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)
adjacent to Virginia for use in beach restoration efforts. 

     "Considering the periodic hurricane damage sustained along
the Virginia coast," said MMS Director Cynthia Quarterman, "it's
easy to understand the growing interest in investigating the
possibility of using sand resources from federal waters for beach
restoration."

     The 24-month, $521,645 project will be managed by VIMS and
will involve investigators from VIMS and Old Dominion University. 
The United States Geological Survey's Office of Marine Geology is
also participating in the project.  Scientists will collect
physical and biological information within a coastal sector
extending from just below the community of Sandbridge northward
to Cape Henry at the Chesapeake Bay entrance and outward from the
coast to a depth of approximately 15-meters.  

     "We're concerned about the impacts on bottom-dwelling
creatures," said Quarterman.  "This study will provide valuable
data regarding the potential for biological impacts within
offshore sites which have been identified as possible sand areas. 

     Physical oceanographic data will also be collected to assess
whether or not removal of material would affect the physical
regime between these areas and the beach.  These data will be
invaluable in making future decisions when the use of federal
sand offshore the State of Virginia is being considered."

     The MMS is the federal agency that manages the nation's
natural gas, oil and other mineral resources--including sand--on
the OCS, and collects and disburses about $4 billion yearly in
revenues from offshore mineral leases and mineral leases on
federal and Indian lands.

                                   -MMS-