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Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether. Chances are if you have heard of it at all, you know it as MTBE. MTBE is a gasoline additive that is supposed to make cars run cleaner. As a result of the Clean Air Act in 1990, federal authorities forced oxygenate additives to be put in gasoline sold in the nation’s ten smoggiest cities. MTBE quickly became the additive of choice, and began to see much more widespread use.

Today, MTBE is found in the fuel that burns in 70% of American automobiles. This chemical, which has been linked to testicular, kidney and liver cancer, as well as leukemia and lymphoma in laboratory rats, is wreaking havoc nationwide. MTBE spreads quickly because of its high solubility, polluting ground water which tastes and smells like turpentine. Leaking underground tanks at corner gas stations have forced wells to close. A mere spoonful of the stuff can contaminate enough water to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

MTBE has been detected in all 50 states, in cities of all sizes. New York has identified 1500 sites, with 400 on Long Island alone. California has identified upwards of 10,000 sites. Santa Monica, California was hit hard in 1995, forcing the city to shut down half of its wells and import 80% of its water.

Human health has been affected. In Alaska, so many people became ill, the state declared an epidemic finally banning MTBE in 1994. The Center for Disease Control reports MTBE exposure is linked to health symptoms including: headache, dizziness, burning sensation of nose or throat, coughing, nausea, vomiting, and disorientation. Many other states have also reported adverse health reactions: Montana, Illinois, Arizona, Iowa, New York, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. In New Jersey, a citizens group, the Oxy-Busters, circulated a petition signed by almost 16,000 people suffering the same symptoms as those reported in Alaska.

Several states are taking action. California is banning MTBE as of the end of 2002, and eight Northeastern states have asked Congress to allow them to decide for themselves whether these types of "clean air" additives will be permitted within their borders.

The struggle to solve the MTBE dilemma is not a new one. In 1986, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) submitted to EPA a report entitled MTBE as a Groundwater Contaminant, which identified that MTBE was such a hazard that there was "reason to insist that gasoline in which MTBE is blended be stored only in double-contained facilities." EPA’s Test Rules Development Branch of EPA’s Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances received similar notices from the states of New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Massachusetts in the years 1985-1987.

The EPA clearly knew in the mid 1980s that MTBE would pose a threat to ground water. By 1988, the EPA even added MTBE to its first Drinking Water Priority List which identified contaminants that may adversely affect public health.

Incredibly, nine months after MTBE was flagged as a contaminant by EPA’s Office of Water, the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation approved its extended use. The Office of Air and Radiation claimed ignorance of the water pollution problem. Yet, all divisions of the EPA have members on EPA’s Rule Making Group which is supposed to catch these problems.

Although it has never stopped the EPA before, the agency also claims it does not have the authority to regulate MTBE. It seems they would rather nail storage tank offenders. "MTBE’s air quality benefits were clear. The water quality hazards were hazy and, we had an underground storage tank program in place," said James Caldwell, EPA’s Office of Mobile Sources, Fuels and Energy Division.

Since MTBE has an easily detectable odor, even in a minuscule proportion of five parts per billion, Caldwell said "We thought the stuff was a great way to identify leaking tanks." It’s rather like putting arsenic in the cookies to find out who’s stealing from the cookie jar. Never mind that people’s lives were being destroyed.

MTBE has left a financial disaster in its wake. The University of California has estimated that treatment costs will range somewhere between $340 million and $1.5 billion, just in the state of California. The litigation on the part of injured property owners against big oil companies is already beginning to flood the legal system.

Although the EPA knew very early on of MTBE’s enormous risks, the agency promoted its use as a means of controlling the automobile industry, knowing that both the environment and people would be harmed. Had a private company done the same thing, it would have been brought up on criminal charges. MTBE may be one of the largest environmental disasters in America’s history. It was not until March 20 this year that EPA Director Carol Browner said the EPA would try to phase out MTBE over the next few years.

The EPA has become so corrupt that twenty EPA employees shared their concern in a letter published by the Washington Times on June 8, 1998: "Within the EPA, employees are harassed, even fired, for protesting illegal or irresponsible behavior by managers.... Whistleblowers will be fired or their careers dead ended; and individuals ... who retaliate against whistleblowers, will be promoted to keep them from incriminating administrators who approve of their actions.... EPA regulations and enforcement actions based on poor science stand to harm rather than protect public health and the environment."

The greatest tragedy of MTBE may be that it is proving to be a failure at providing cleaner air. Last year, the National Research Council determined that the additives have done very little to reduce vehicle pollution emissions. Any reductions are more likely the result of the installation of better emission control systems in today’s automobiles.