| |
The Malcolm Pirnie environmental engineering firm evaluated assumptions used by University of California researchers in 1998. The UC report was the basis for Gov. Gray Davis' decision to ban the use of MTBE in 2003 due to concerns about its threat to drinking water supplies.
John Lynn, Methanol Institute president, said, "A lot has happened since 1998 to dramatically reduce the threat of MTBE contamination of California's water supplies. The state intended to act prudently in 1998. Now that we know the water quality impacts of MTBE are manageable, it would be imprudent to ask Californians to pay an extra $1 billion at the pump to switch to ethanol."
It said since 1998, MTBE has been shown to biodegrade under a range of environmental conditions and MTBE plumes do not span substantially longer distances compared to the plumes lengths of other gasoline constituents such as benzene. It said current remediation and treatment technologies have been effective at MTBE-impacted sites, at a cost less than that projected in 1998. And Malcolm Pirnie said the continued phaseout of two-stroke engines on many California reservoirs has greatly reduced the risk of MTBE contamination.
In addition, studies have shown that MTBE will not persist in surface waters, but will volatilize within a relatively short time. (Source : OGJ Online)
The Malcolm Pirnie report is available here (pdf format) |
