  We describe a preliminary study of a 40-ton liquid argon TPC based on the
ICARUS method to use in the NuMI near region in line with the LANNDD project.
This reduced-scale detector, called ``Mini-LANNDD T40'', is designed for R&D
purposes and systematic measures on its response. Safety concerns are a key
issue, which will be discussed as well as a preliminary design of the detector.
Adapted as a near or vertex detector in a neutrino beam, the Mini-LANNDD T40 is
capable of observing the electron-neutrino flux in the off-axis beam, a key to
use for measuring $\sin^2 2 \theta_{13}$ in the future, and measuring the low
energy neutrino-argon cross-section, an important piece of information for
future long baseline experiments.
