A Toxic Mess for Taxpayers

Gov. Gray Davis is taking fire from cities, including Santa Monica, for extending the deadline on removing a toxic pollutant from gasoline in the state. Like many other small cities, Santa Monica has seen its water wells contaminated by the chemical, MTBE, which is used to reduce air pollution by oxygenating gasoline. What is so frustrating about this mess is that new gasoline formulations don’t even need oxygenates to meet clean air standards. It is political calculation that forced the state into a choice between water pollution and gas panic.

First, a little history. Under a 1990 federal law, California had to choose between MTBE--methyl tertiary butyl ether--and ethanol, an alcohol made mostly from corn, to oxygenate gasoline. At the time, MTBE seemed safe and preferable. Now, with MTBE’s dangers known, the Bush administration has refused to lift the 1990 oxygenate requirement, pushing the state to begin right away using ethanol to replace MTBE. An immediate switch would probably cause statewide gasoline shortages and price spikes to perhaps $3 a gallon because the state’s gasoline producers lack the infrastructure for massive use of ethanol. So Davis has delayed a state ban on MTBE for one year, until the end of 2003.

Gasoline producers had counted on either an Environmental Protection Agency waiver from the 1990 law that would allow them to use newer gasoline formulations or congressional action delaying immediate use of ethanol. What they didn’t count on was the electoral importance of corn-producing Midwestern states in the coming 2002 midterm and 2004 presidential elections.

The Davis administration, however, should have been more candid about its choices. State officials, in supporting the delay of the ban, pointed to the replacement of old, corroded gasoline storage tanks. But gasoline still leaks, even from new tanks, and 20% of the old ones have not been replaced. There are more than 10,000 cases of ground-water contamination by MTBE, a toxin that imparts a foul smell and taste to water. Any cleanup would cost billions of dollars, and little is being done because of battles over who’s responsible and who would pay.

A pair of companion bills in the state Legislature by Sen. Nell Soto (D-Pomona) and Assemblywoman Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) would help. They would levy a 30-cent-per-barrel fee on oil refined in California, generating an estimated $200 million a year for cleanup. California needs to be more aggressive in treating contamination before it grows to impossible proportions. As these bills are debated, lawmakers should consider whether 30 cents a barrel is enough.

Congress and President Bush should also help California pay for the cleanup that will result from their follies. Since the ethanol requirement is so entwined with electoral politics, true justice would deduct the cleanup from campaign war chests. But as usual, taxpayers will get stuck with the bill.