MTBE
(methyl-tertiary butyl ether)
Sarah Lilley
ES 333
History of MTBE
• First introduced in 1979
• Used as an oxygenate to curb lead
emissions
• Wide-spread use following CAA of 1990
• Reduced ground-ozone and cancer risk
due to automobile emissions
• Easily produced
• Cheaper than alternatives, such as
ethanol
The Issue
• Found to contaminate groundwater as early as
1980
• Doesn’t adhere to soil particles
• Easily soluble in water, difficult to remove
• Main leak source: underground storage tanks
• Contaminated water tastes like turpentine
• States which once had high levels of air pollution
now had high levels of water contamination
• Cleanup is estimated at $29 billion
Advocates
• Oil companies and
their lobbyists
• Oil-state politicians
• Republicans
Opponents
• Environmental groups
and their lobbyists
• Corn-state politicians
• Democrats
Who’s Responsible for Cleanup?
• Government: for requiring the use of oxygenates
in gasoline?
• Oil Companies: for using MTBE since it was
cheap and easy to produce, rather than
investigating alternatives?
Energy Policy Act of 2005
• Sponsored by Joe Barton, R-TX, with cosponsors Richard Pombo, R-CA, and
William Thomas, R-CA
• Congress is aware that it authorized use of
MTBE, knowing it to be a water
contaminant
• Congress recognizes the problem of
MTBE contamination and the need for
change
• Offers assistance to oil companies to
make switch from MTBE to other additives