Pilot Projects Announced for MTBE Cleanup

July 7, 2000

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol M. Browner says two $1 million pilot projects, one each in New York and California, will be used to assist with the cleanup of the gasoline additive MTBE in contaminated community water supplies. Areas of Long Island, NY, and Santa Monica, CA., are among those communities most affected by MTBE contamination.

"To protect public health and the environment, the administration has called on Congress to eliminate MTBE from gasoline, and we've begun regulatory action aimed at phasing it out," said Browner. "However, in the meantime, action must be taken to help communities already affected by MTBE leaks. We are providing additional funding to help New York and California remove MTBE contamination in affected communities and prevent future problems from leaking tanks."

New York is being awarded $1 million to accelerate cleanup at 50 MTBE contaminated sites on Long Island. The funds for Santa Monica will be used to help the state and the city with the cleanup of MTBE contaminated groundwater.

MTBE, or methyl tertiary butyl ether, is an additive in gasoline used by many refiners to meet a provision of the Clean Air Act that calls for the use of oxygenates in fuels. In 1999, a panel investigated whether MTBE posed special risks to water supplies. Last fall the panel presented scientific proof confirming that MTBE threatens water supplies, according to EPA. The administration subsequently asked Congress to phase down or eliminate MTBE. The administration also has begun regulatory action to control MTBE under the Toxics Substances Control Act.

In a separate action, EPA released a new annual report showing that 94% of U.S. water systems reported no violations of health-based drinking water standards. The study, titled "Providing Safe Drinking Water in America: l998 National Public Water Systems Compliance Report," provides compliance data on public water systems in the United States.

Based on information reported by states to EPA's computer-based tracking system, the report also shows that 84% of all violations were of monitoring and reporting requirements -- mostly at small systems serving 3,300 or fewer people. The report also describes steps EPA is taking to ensure the public's right to know about the safety of their drinking water. EPA requires water systems to provide Americans with annual reports on the safety of their local drinking water and has made drinking water information available at http://www.epa.gov/safewater.

The report is available at: http://es.epa.gov/oeca/main/fedgov/compliance/pws98.pdf.