TOPPLED PLATFORM TO BECOME ARTIFICIAL REEF IN GULF OF MEXICO

Challenger Minerals Inc. toppled its High Island A-567 platform jacket for the Texas Artificial Reef Program in August 1993, an economical alternative to transporting the jacket to shore to sell for scrap. According to Challenger Minerals, a subsidiary of Global Marine Inc., turning the platform jacket into a reef was economically attractive and environmentally responsible. (A large variety of marine life already flourished around the platform.) The toppling operation cost about $2 million.