Gas Additive Delayed on Toxin Concerns

Ethyl Corp., a Richmond, Va.--based chemical company, on Thursday temporarily withdrew its application for approval of a gasoline additive designed to reduce emissions, just days before a deadline for the Environmental Protection Agency to act on it.

After meeting with EPA officials Wednesday, the company said it needed more time to answer questions raised about HiTEC 3000, a manganese-based additive that the company contends would reduce emissions while boosting octane in unleaded gasoline.

James Caldwell, chief of the EPA’s fuels section in Washington, said the agency was concerned that the additive would release toxic amounts of manganese and increase emissions of particulate matter. Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp. have also questioned whether the additive might damage catalytic converters in automobiles, Caldwell said.

In the 1970s, the California Air Resources Board banned the use of the additive in the state because it was believed to damage catalytic converters, said board spokesman Jerry Martin. It is unlikely the board would reverse itself if the EPA approves the additive.

Ethyl denied any toxic effects of manganese and said the additive would not increase emissions or harm catalytic converters. The additive is already used in Canada.

But HiTEC 3000 has drawn criticism from an environmental group that advertised in the Washington Post on Wednesday urging the EPA to reject the request.

“We continue to believe that tests of neurotoxic substances such as manganese should not be run on the American populace as a whole,” said Karen Florini, a senior attorney with the Environmental Defense Fund in Washington, which has filed objections to the application with the EPA.

Ethyl said it has tested the additive, whose chemical name is methylcyclopenta-dienyl manganese tricarbonyl--or MMT--in 48 vehicles driven 3 million miles. HiTEC 3000 would reduce carbon monoxide emissions by 1.1% and nitrogen oxide emissions by more than 20%, Ethyl contends.

Ethyl will refile its application, but no sooner than in 30 days, said Prescott Rowe, a spokesman. The original application was filed in May. EPA had until Monday to grant approval under the federal Clean Air Act.

Ethyl was once the major supplier of lead-based antiknock gasoline ingredients, but that business fell off when the EPA began phasing lead out of gasoline.

If approved, HiTEC 3000 could add $60 million to $120 million to Ethyl’s annual profits in five years, said Leonard Bogner, an analyst with Prudential-Bache in New York. Last year, Ethyl reported net income of $231.3 million on sales of $2.4 billion.