I tried some of that MTBE once. 
How'd you like it?
It darn near burned out my lower pipes!
Posted on 07/21/2005 5:08:42 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Twenty-one senators asked the Environmental Protection Agency for more information Thursday about an internal paper that reportedly concludes that the gasoline additive MTBE may cause cancer.
Key elements of the document, which has not been made public, surfaced as lawmakers considered whether to shield the makers of MTBE from product liability lawsuits as a result drinking water contamination in at least 36 states.
MTBE, which was put into gasoline to cut air pollution, has been banned in several states because of complaints that it adds a foul smell and turpentine-like taste to drinking water when it leaks into water supplies.
But the draft EPA paper, described as a preliminary document that has not been peer-reviewed, raises broader health concerns from MTBE than widely assumed, according to opponents of the proposed liability shield.
"This is extremely troubling and certainly merits further investigation and review," said the senators — 19 Democrats and one Republican — in a letter sent Thursday to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson.
The draft document calls MTBE a likely carcinogen, according to a trade publication, Inside EPA.
EPA officials do not dispute that characterization. But EPA spokeswoman Eryn Witcher said the draft paper reflects "incomplete information" developed early in the MTBE review process and has yet to undergo internal or external peer reviews.
"This draft should not be construed to represent any agency determination or policy," said Witcher. She said the paper is part of a broader assessment of MTBE's risks that won't be completed for another year or more.
The senators said they want to know more about "what findings EPA is anticipating to make," since decisions are being made now in Congress over phasing out MTBE and whether to give liability immunity to its manufactures.
"If ingestion of MTBE is determined to cause adverse human health effects, such as cancer, it is imperative that we have that information," Sen. Dianne Feinstein (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., wrote the EPA.
Twenty other senators — including many from the Northeast, where MTBE water contamination has been a particular concern — also signed the letter.
"The possibility that MTBE could have harmful health effects highlights the urgency of implementing an alternative to its use," said Sen. Olympia Snowe (news, bio, voting record) of Maine, the only GOP lawmaker to sign the letter.
MTBE has been the subject of more than 150 lawsuits around the country because of concern about billions of dollars in cleanup costs after it gets into drinking water supplies. While the additive causes a foul smell and taste at even small concentrations, its impact on health has not been determined.
At high concentrations, MTBE has been found to cause cancer in laboratory mice. As a result, the EPA said years ago the additive could be a human carcinogen, but has not gone beyond that. MTBE is not regulated by the agency.
Meanwhile, intense discussions are underway to try to put together a compromise on MTBE as part of a broad energy bill lawmakers are hoping to complete before the August congressional recess.
A provision that has been pushed by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and GOP Rep. Joe Barton (news, bio, voting record), chairman of the House-Senate conference negotiating a final energy bill, would protect MTBE makers against product liability lawsuits.
Both DeLay and Barton are from Texas, home of the biggest MTBE makers, including major oil companies.
Many senators, however, have vowed to block any legislation that contains such a liability shield for the MTBE industry.
Barton said Thursday he's close to putting together a compromise that would establish a new federal cleanup fund for water contaminated by MTBE. But he also has insisted liability protection be part of the package.
Sen. Pete Domenici (news, bio, voting record), R-N.M., who is leading the Senate negotiators, said he has yet to see an MTBE proposal that will not prompt a filibuster in
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Uhhh, DiFI, if you don't already know that, it's just more ammo why you need to be retired from office.
Especially, being as your state has paid dearly for said forced useage of MTBE as part of the fight to keep the air clean. I would expect you would now a lot more about MTBE than you are acting like you and others already do.
a theory posed,, .. MTBE a likely carcinogen,, and it's equivalent in politics land.. moderate Republican
MTBE at FR
The last time CA was going to get rid of cancer causing MTBE the Canadian company tht make it (yes, made in canada BUT NOT USED! Was going to under NAFTA sue us for there lost - and Davis caved.
BTW, the oil industry did not want MTBE, the CA air quality board forced it on us and the following day 14 of the board members resigned.
MTBE is a sad story like all non-constitutional gov't programs a disaster.
I can't believe that MTBE is still being used. This has been going on for close to 10 years. The damn stuff is polluting ground water, eating through rubber/plastic motorcycle & car parts. California clean air standards be damned. Cancer studies be damned. Threats by Canada to sue if they can't ship the crap into the US (thanks NAFTA) be damned.
Get rid of MTBE, NOW.
I tried some of that MTBE once. How'd you like it?
It darn near burned out my lower pipes!
Typical. It MAY cause cancer -- no one knows. It is similar to alcohol in that it is completely miscible in water. But it is so foul that no one will drink water contaminated by it, it stinks that bad.
And the reason it is in the environment at all is that it was required to be put there by the Feds to meet clean air requirements.
Somebody refresh my memory. Didn't various governments demand and require that MTBE be added to gasoline as an oxygenator? Seems like the oil companies were only complying with government regulations which, true to form, create more problems than they solve.
If there was a Rep. Senator that had any sack he would call for hearings on MTBE-and expose to the public EXACTLY what went on and how this product was forced upon the oil cos by the Clintoon EPA. I worked for an oil company in the late 80s-early 90s-they were forced to use it and they warned of the consequences.
dr. bill wattenberg formerly of lawerence livermore laboratories and announcer on kgo, san fran, about 1990 used to harangue his listeners for hours about mtbe.
it's a CARCINOGEN he used to yell! why would you put that in your gasoline?
he'd point out how the cal epa was in bed with the state of california.
semper fido.
Di Fi knows that MTBE is a carcinogen and spoiler of drinking water.
Her office got notification of all these problems as they were exposed on KSFO throughout the 1990's.
The Sierra Club and all of the phoney non profits who pushed MTBE on us should be sued in civil court for damages.
that's correct.
If people are dying because of this......(rest is left unsaid).
"BTW, the oil industry did not want MTBE, the CA air quality board forced it on us and the following day 14 of the board members resigned."
"MTBE is a sad story like all non-constitutional gov't programs a disaster."
I think that our future Supreme Court Justice Roberts will put an end to enviral mandates that impact an entire state, region or nation.
"Since lawmakers forced the use of MTBE's, why shouldn't THEY be subject to lawsuits right along with the makers??"
Particuliarly the ones who got money from the Sierra Club and other enviral nazi organizations to force us to put MTBE in our vehicles.
"dr. bill wattenberg formerly of lawerence livermore laboratories and announcer on kgo, san fran, about 1990 used to harangue his listeners for hours about mtbe.
it's a CARCINOGEN he used to yell! why would you put that in your gasoline?
he'd point out how the cal epa was in bed with the state of california.
semper fido."
Dr Bill was the voice of sanity on this issue. I used to listen to him over the weekend at night just to know that I wasn't by myself in this battle agains MTBE.
16
do you recall what year the board members resigned?
The link below shows the wisdom of Dr Bill:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1381862/posts
California Gas Ripoff (How Legislature could Immediatly lower Price 30 cents per Gallon)
California High School Conservative ^ | April 11, 2005 | Andy Nevis
Posted on 04/11/2005 10:08:23 PM PDT by AVNevis
Gas Prices in California hit a Record High Today of $2.61 per gallon. Most mororists just accept it. But they shouldn't.
The Legislature and governor could lower gas prices by 30 cents per gallon instantly. And no funds would be lost from the state treasury. For a more detailed explanation, we turn to Dr. Bill Watsenburg, the sole conservative over on KGO radio in San Francisco.
The 30 billion dollar robbery of California motorists through excessive gas prices over the last eight years can be stopped immediately. There is an easy, no-risk experiment that will prove this. Simply allow California motorists to use a small amount of the perfectly good federal reformulated gasoline (FRG) that the rest of the nation is using. It meets all federal clean air standards. It is available from refineries all over the country -- and right here in California. Gas prices in California will drop overnight to the national average. California refineries will soon be selling the special California reformulated gasoline (CRG) at the national average price for FRG gasoline. Ironically, California refineries make millions of gallons of FRG gasoline every day and ship it out of the state. Only California motorists are not allowed to use the FRG gasoline while the oil companies often claim shortages of CRG gasoline; and keep the prices high in California.
There is no reason in the world why our leaders in Sacramento should not at least try this no-risk experiment. If they refuse, it can only be assumed that they have more concern for excessive oil company profits than concern for the struggling families in California. This solution costs nothing. There is no degradation of the environment of the kind that Cal EPA and CARB bureaucrats created by putting the toxic MTBE in their so-called California reformulated gasoline. California working families are being asked to make great sacrifices to solve the state budget crisis. The governor and the Legislature cannot deny them some relief from this gas price obscenity.
And there is more on Dr. Bill's webpage. But you get the point.
Californians have to pay about 30 cents per gallon more in gasoline than the nation as a whole because we have to use a special California brand of gasoline, one that is supposedly more environmentally friendly.
Except that there is no proof that it is safer. In fact, it was this special gasoline that contained the chemical MTBE, which was found to be toxic. There is no evidence that the California brand is safer.
The reason that Californians have to use this special gas is that it makes the bureaucrats feel happy. It makes them appear to be doing something to reduce the air pollution in the state.
The Democratic-dominated legislature goes along with the bureaucrats. It boosts their public image. Again, it makes them look like they are doing something to improve the environment.
So Californians must demand that their legislators allow California to use the same kind of gas that the rest of the nation uses. And the Governor must be pressured on this too. He has been all too eager to get in bed with the environmentalists, he must understand that this change would not hurt the environment.
If Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez really wants to reduce gas prices, he should take on this issue instead of pushing to repeal the tax tax only to have it re-instated again after a period of time.
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