Oil Companies, Feds Deceive Public on Additive's Hazards

The industry is dirty here IMO. They knew MTBE was a problem in 1985 as a result of the Denver study. New gasoline formulations have made it totally unnecessary. The industry demanded immunity from liability for added oxygenates in the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 and went ahead with the project knowing full well that it would diffuse through their tanks and into groundwater. After California mandated a 15% MTBE formula statewide ARCO put Pete Wilson's wife on the Board of Directors even though it was only (arguably) necessary in two critical air basins. The Air Resources Board Directors that went for the formulations ended up wit fat industry consulting contracts. MTBE lowers milage in an amount almost exactly equal to the natural gas necessary to make it. Needless to say, there was a substantive effect dut to the resulting gas shortage in the California Power Crisis.

That's only for starters. The stuff is bad. The knew it. They went ahead for money. They didn't care about what it did to groundwater.

Read Carry Okie's reply # 21. Most Californians dislike MTBE and anything but opposition to its use will be held agaisnt a candidate. Davis is in a little bind because he does not want a rise in the price of gas at election time, the best bet is to see if Davis hangs him self but for Simon to stay out of it.

MTBE was introduced as an octane-enhancer, not as an enviornmental cleaner-upper. Something was needed to replace tetra-ethyl lead in order for a spark-ignited engine with any decent compression ratio to merely run!

The miserable excuse for gasoline manufactured today will only detonate and pre-ignite without some sort of additive in it.

Well, it's considered a premium beer now.

On tap all over Maryland.

Most popular is their "Black and Tan", a porter/lager mix.

Chesterfield ale on sale at local liquor stores along with their five other styles.

The oil companies would have gone on and happily not put any extra/costly additives to gasoline.

Quite true. New formulations for gasoline, even without adding ethanol or anything else, actually meet the fed clean air requirements. Cleaner burning gasoline, along with newer cars that burn that fuel more effeciently, mean that air quality is steadily improving nation-wide, wherever it is automobile traffic responsible for dirty air.

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