137 



United States Department of the Interior 



MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE 



Wuhington. DC 20240 



OCT 2 4 1995 



Admiral James D. Watkins, USN (Ret.) 

 President, Consortium for Oceanographic 



Research and Education 

 1755 Massachusetts Avenue, NW 

 Suite 800 

 Washington, DC 20036 



Dear Admiral Walkins: 



Thank you for inviting the Minerals Management Service to provide information on our 

 contributions to ocean science research. We are quite proud of the accomplishments of the 

 MMS Environmental Studies Program over the years and are pleased to provide you with 

 this brief description of the program. 



One of the primary responsibilities of the MMS, as specified in the Outer Contmental Shelf 

 Lands .Act Amendments of 1978, is to oversee the safe and environmentally sound 

 exploration, development, and production of offshore natural gas, o'l, and other mineral 

 resources on the Nation's Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).. Since !9'^4. MMS has conducted 

 research in the ocean sciences to identify and evaluate potential environmental problems 

 associated with offshore activities and to monitor the effects of those activities on the 

 environment. 



Over the last decade, MMS has made a conscious effort to develop partnerships with the 

 academic research community to address our needs for high qualify scientific information. 

 We are particularly proud of the MMS Coastal Marine Institute imtiative which has 

 established partnerships through the States of Louisiana, California, and Alaska to support 

 important research in the st.ate universities. In recognition of the mutual benefits derived 

 through CMI research, the participating States share the costs on an equal basis with MMS. 

 These university cooperative efforts educate and train young scientists and utilize the 

 expertise of senior scientists to improve our knowledge of fundamental ecological processes 

 and develop workable solutions to environmental problems. Pioneering research in the use of 

 marine organisms as bioindicators of environmental conditions, biodegradation of petroleum 

 hydrocarbons, and bioremediation for oil spill cleanup are some of the topics studied through 

 partnership at the CMIs. 



In addition to leveraged agreements, MMS has numerous other cooperative agreements with 

 State institutions. For example, Scripps Instimte of Oceanography is conducting a m_ajor 

 multi-year study of physical oceanography in the coastal ocean off southern California. This 



