PATRICK CROW
Washington Bureau
Because of groundwater contamination, the Clinton administration plans to ask Congress to pass legislation to significantly reduce or eliminate the use of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) in gasoline.
The additive has been used mostly in reformulated gasoline to meet the 1992 Clean Air Act's oxygenate requirements. Gasoline leaks have caused MTBE, a possible carcinogen, to contaminate groundwater in several regions. RFG is used in about 30 percent of all US gasoline.
Carol Browner, Environmental Protection Agency administrator, said the legislation should reduce or end MTBE use and set minimum content levels for ethanol in gasoline. As a backstop, EPA will try to eliminate use of MTBE in gasoline under Sec. 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act.
Meanwhile, a proposed class action lawsuit has been filed in Madison County, Ill., circuit court alleging that 10 major oil companies produced and sold MTBE although they knew it posed significant environmental risks. The suit alleges the oil companies engaged in a 20-year conspiracy to mislead the government and the public about MTBE's dangers.
The lawsuit seeks to represent individuals across the country owning land that overlies groundwater contaminated by MTBE.
The suit said, "Defendants knew that the storage systems responsible for storing gasoline containing MTBE were deteriorating and/or leaking and that there are numerous other pathways that would allow for the MTBE to get into the environment and cause extensive pollution of this country's ground water."
The oil companies named in the suit were Atlantic Richfield Co., BP Amoco PLC, Citgo Petroleum Corp., Conoco Inc., Exxon Mobil Corp., Equilon Enterprises LLC, Chevron USA Inc., Phillips Petroleum Co., Shell Oil Co., and Texaco Refining and Marketing Inc.
Tank Cleanup
Meanwhile, AWWA has urged Congress to allocate $100 million to the Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) Trust Fund to clean up community water supplies contaminated by MTBE.
Michael Hooker, Executive Director of the Onandaga County, N.Y., Water Authority, testified for AWWA at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing.
"Although the administration was right to acknowledge the future MTBE contamination problem, it has offered no solution for the water utilities and consumers already facing dramatic MTBE clean up costs around the country," Hooker said.
"The administration's current proposal simply does not meet the immediate needs of millions of Americans who have MTBE in their water," he said, noting that the administration did not request MTBE cleanup funds in its fiscal 2001 budget.
"The use of MTBE has created a significant and unacceptable risk to drinking water," Hooker said. "An aggressive, high priority effort is necessary to clean up MTBE from leaking underground storage tanks as quickly as possible."
AWWA said 31 states have MTBE contamination and the problem continues to grow.
It said, "On Apr. 10, the California State Department of Health announced that MTBE had been found in an additional 22 drinking water supplies across the state in the past year.
"The city of Santa Monica, California has determined it will cost $150 million to find new water sources necessary to compensate for those the city lost due to massive MTBE contamination in 1995.
"And in Dallas, the city's largest reservoir has been shut down for over month due to MTBE contamination stemming from an underground gasoline pipe break," AWWA said.
The group said the administration has proposed only a $2.1 million increase to the $70 million the LUST Fund received in fiscal year 2000, and none of that money was dedicated to cleaning up MTBE.
AWWA said Congress should make sufficient funding available to communities that must clean up drinking water contaminated by a chemical that EPA approved for use in complying with federal air quality standards.
Waterways Pollution
AWWA has urged Congress to seek a comprehensive approach to limit pollution runoff into US waterways.
The group said it was concerned that the EPA may decide not to consider water pollution created by runoff from farms, cities, and construction sites in its source water protection efforts.
"It defies logic for EPA to continue issuing drinking water quality regulations without making every effort to protect our water from all types of pollution," said AWWA President Steve Gorden.
"Congress should help EPA remember that the water contaminated by runoff ends up as the water in our bath, bottle or tap."
AWWA said "nonpoint source" pollution is now the largest and most adverse source of water pollution in America, regularly increasing the levels of disease-causing microbes, pesticides and toxins in rivers, lakes and streams across the country.
Separately, Sens. Bob Smith (R-N.H.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) filed a bill to require EPA to postpone a rulemaking on nonpoint pollution.
Crapo said despite EPA's push to adopt the rule by late June, more than 30,000 public comments have been received against the regulation, which would allow EPA to override state water permit decisions.
He said EPA's rule could cost states more than $1 billion to draft 40,000 water plans over the next 15 years.
The rules establish new federal total maximum daily load standards and require cities, businesses, and landowners along waterways to get permits for rainwater runoff that is now considered to be nonpoint source pollution.
Crapo said, "My disagreement with the proposed rule is not its basic objective, which is aimed at cleaning our nation's waters-but the hurried approach EPA has elected to take, and their refusal to address the very numerous, very real concerns of states, cities, and stakeholders.
Enforcement
William J. McCarthy of Lawrence, Mass. has pleaded guilty to 18 counts of violating the Safe Drinking Water Act. He faces up to 5 years imprisonment and/or a $250,000 fine on each count.
The Justice Department said during the 1990's, McCarthy was the senior chemist at Lawrence's drinking water filtration plant, where he supervised water quality testing. In his plea, McCarthy admitted that he repeatedly fabricated drinking water quality results.
The Lawrence filtration plant draws water from the Merrimack River and distributes it to more than 60,000 residents. As a result of the criminal investigation, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection has ordered Lawrence to upgrade its drinking water facilities and hire an outside consultant to oversee the operation of the plant.
Ron Jagielo and MRS Plating Inc., both of Lockport. N.Y., have been sentenced for discharging hazardous plating wastes into the Lockport sewer system in 1996.
Jagielo, who managed waste disposal at the MRS plant, was sentenced to serve one year in prison, one year supervised release and was ordered to pay a $4,000 fine. MRS plating was sentenced to pay a $90,000 fine, pay $30,000 in restitution to the city of Lockport and serve 3 years probation.