Oil Firms Ordered to Clean Up MTBE
From Times Staff Reports
A judge signed an agreement forcing five major oil companies to clean up sites they own that have been contaminated with the gasoline additive MTBE as part of a settlement with a San Francisco Bay Area environmental group.
Communities for a Better Environment said the companies knew the chemical could leak into ground water.
The group sued Shell, Chevron, Texaco, Equilon Enterprises, Unocal, Arco, Tosco, Exxon and Mobil in 1998. The first five settled and are covered by the judge’s order.
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