Boxer Will Ask EPA to Curb Gas Additive

U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said Tuesday that she will ask the Environmental Protection Agency to invoke emergency powers to reduce the widespread use of a gasoline additive credited with cleaning the air but polluting water.

In response, the EPA said it will review its emergency powers authority but believes it is doing enough to combat the problem caused by the additive MTBE.

And a leading MTBE manufacturer said it too believes that emergency action is not needed.

At a Sacramento hearing she convened Tuesday that focused on water contamination caused by MTBE, Boxer said: “This is a problem that is spreading. We have to stop it.”

A key component of new reformulated gasoline, MTBE has been widely used since 1995 as part of an effort to clean the state’s air.

Noting that EPA chief Carol Browner has the authority to invoke emergency powers to stop the use of pollutants, Boxer said: “I really think she ought to consider doing that right now.”

Boxer said Browner could act far more quickly than Congress to reduce the use of MTBE. Boxer is also supporting separate legislation by Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Imperial Beach) and fellow California Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein that would lift the requirement that oil companies add chemicals such as MTBE to gasoline to make fuel burn more efficiently and thus reduce smog.

“We didn’t know [all the ramifications] when we did it,” Boxer said, referring to a federal requirement imposed several years ago that oil companies add octane-boosting chemicals such as MTBE to gasoline. “At some point, you cut your losses.”

EPA spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said that in light of Boxer’s request, EPA lawyers are reviewing the agency’s authority. But she said the agency believes it is handling the MTBE problem adequately.

Cutter noted that the EPA issued guidelines Monday limiting MTBE in drinking water to no higher than 40 parts per billion. California’s standard is 35 ppb.

“We respect Sen. Boxer’s request and we are constantly reviewing our option to ensure public health is being protected,” Cutter said. “We believe, however, that the situation is already being handled effectively.”

Edward D. Griffith of Arco Chemical Co., one the nation’s largest MTBE producers, said after Tuesday’s hearing that there isn’t an emergency and “we don’t think emergency action is required.”

At legislative hearings earlier this year, MTBE was hailed as a magic bullet for California’s air pollution problem.

In those hearings, state officials, oil industry executives and many environmentalists cited sharp airborne reductions of far more toxic components of gasoline, such as benzene.

MTBE largely replaced benzene, which is known to cause cancer in humans. MTBE is a suspected carcinogen, although less toxic than benzene.

Since the legislative hearings, concern has grown over the burgeoning problem of MTBE-contaminated water.

More recently, two major refiners, Chevron Corp. and Tosco, have announced support for the Bilbray-Feinstein legislation. The refiners contend that MTBE does little to help clean the air.

At the same time, California water suppliers are finding more MTBE in water. The sources are leaking gasoline storage tanks and piping. Unlike many components of gasoline, MTBE readily dissolves in water.

Pollution from the chemical has rendered 70% of Santa Monica’s ground water undrinkable, a Santa Monica city official testified at Boxer’s hearing.

Although MTBE has contaminated few other drinking water wells in California, other water experts testified that they are worried it will migrate from shallow ground water into the deeper drinking wells.

In a preliminary analysis, the California Energy Commission concluded that an immediate ban on MTBE would cut gasoline production by 15% to 40% in California, and force oil companies to import more gasoline.

The commission did not place a dollar figure on the cost of an immediate ban. But Tom Glaviano, an Energy Commission analyst, said the price increases “would be uncomfortable.”

“Given time, all this stuff can take place,” Glaviano said. But he added, “You can’t do it overnight.”