State officials say a study to determine the dredging needs of marinas throughout the state should be finished by the end of the month.

Rocky Browder, a regional permitting administrator for the state Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, said the state began the study last month by mailing out questionnaires to the approximately 85 marinas throughout the state. The inquiry asked them about their dredging needs, including how often they have to remove spoil from the marina, the method of removal and where the spoil is disposed.

"We would be able to target the areas of the coast that have ongoing dredging needs," Browder said. "It'll hopefully also highlight the frequency."

The $35,000 study was requested in the final report by the Council on Coastal Futures, a group created by the board of the state Department of Health and Environmental Control to review the state's coastal regulatory agency.

The request was spurred by a 2003 dredging project in Sea Pines. The project's permits called for dumping dredge spoil taken from the Harbour Town Yacht Basin, South Beach Marina and several other waterways at an ocean site near the mouth of Port Royal Sound. Instead, state and federal officials say, most of the spoil ended up in Calibogue Sound.

The state fined the South Island Dredging Association $494,000 for violating its state permit. A federal investigation continues.

Hilton Head Island Mayor Tom Peeples had suggested the council studying coastal issues look into dredging issues and had approached the panel about state law changes to allow the use of local accommodations tax money to pay for managing projects.

The council didn't address the funding issue, but it voted in January 2004 to recommend that marinas give the state's Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management their projected needs for disposing of dredge spoil for the next five, 10 and 20 years so the state can study ways to do the work.

Browder said about 20 marinas have returned the questionnaires so far.

Jamie O'Brien, executive director of the S.C. Marine Association, said she has begun calling the marinas that haven't responded to get them to complete and return the form.

"I feel that we should have more information to have an accurate representation of the coast needs," O'Brien said. "I think we will get the results that we need. I think it will take a reminder."

Dave Harris, harbormaster at Shelter Cove Marina, said he wasn't concerned about the study because the marina doesn't have to worry about where to dump its spoil. It has its own designated upland site not too far from the marina on Hilton Head.

Harris said he wasn't sure whether he had received the survey.

The study being conducted by Thomas & Hutton Engineering Co. also includes a review of new technologies used in dredging, such as using specially designed bags to drain the water out of the material before it's disposed of, Browder said. The review includes looking at the environmental impacts of the new techniques.

Browder said knowing which marinas need dredging, how often they need dredging and how the new techniques work can help the state's permitting process.

"There's a number of things we're looking at that we hope to get out of this," Browder said.

He said that based on the survey, the state should know when several marinas in an area need to be dredged and can help coordinate those projects.

The study also will make it easier to decide whether a specific technique can be used, he said.

"Hopefully, we'll just have a leg up on the technologies," Browder said.