CLEANUP COST CONFUSON

Studies released recently that differed by a factor of 10 in estimating the cost of cleaning up MTBE are further evidence that more information is needed before making a decision on who should pay for the cleanup and how much money will be needed. It is also good reason for Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe to remind their colleagues who will negotiate a compromise with the House that an MTBE waiver, which they have long opposed, not be included in the final energy bill. A provision to protect makers of MTBE from liability for water contamination caused by the gasoline additive is in the House bill, but not the version the Senate is expected to pass soon.

In a study paid for by a Texas-based MTBE maker, ENSR International this week said it would cost between $2 billion and $3 billion to clean up methyl-tertiary butyl ether from leaky fuel tanks. Coincidentally, the Environmental Protection Agency currently has $2.2 billion in a fund to clean up leaky underground storage tanks. Some supporters of an MTBE waiver say this money, which comes from a tax on petroleum, could be used to cover the cost of cleanup.

The study’s author, Frank Sweet, said undiscovered contamination could increase the cost of cleanup.

Also this week, two water utility groups, the American Water Works Association and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, released reports putting the cost of MTBE cleanup in the range of $29 billion. The staff director for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Alex Flint, told reporters at a June 10 briefing that the cleanup could cost between $50 billion and $75 billion based on New Mexico’s experience, according to Inside Washington Publishers.

To reduce air pollution, Congress required the use of reformulated gas in areas of the country, including southern Maine, that did not meet Clean Air Act standards. The gas was required to have a higher oxygen content to reduce smog-forming compounds and cut emissions of lead and benzene. Refineries picked MTBE, a byproduct of oil refining, as the oxygenate of choice. Federal courts have ruled that Congress did not mandate the use of MTBE over other oxygenates, such as ethanol.

Maine was one of the first states to document groundwater contamination with MTBE as a result of leaking underground fuel tanks. Testing by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Health and Maine Geological Survey found MTBE in 16 percent of the 951 private wells tested and 16 percent of the public water supplies tested.

The vastly different estimates of cleanup costs show that far more needs to be known about the extent of MTBE contamination before deciding to abandon one means of paying for it.