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Who's Afraid Of MTBE? Page 1 of 5 IN THE NEWS NOME This article first appeared in The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, July 2000 Who's Afraid of MTBE? A practical solution to mounting concern,., By: Kevin A Wheeler and Joseph J. McGovern* 1!-__,roduction Methyl tertiary-Butyl Ether ("MTBE"), a common additive to gasoline, is the latest bad guy in what has been an unending litany of attacks on chemicals in the environment reportedly causing public health problems Recent reports of MTBE in drinking water has spurred widespread panic and the filing of class action lawsuits seeking personal injury and property damages in the many millions of dollars Consequently, the sometimes monumental costs to clean- up a spill of MTBE into the environment, along with the potential for natural resources damages assessments, pale in comparison to the exposure associated with toxic tort claims by neighbors of MTBE contaminated property and users of contaminated drinking water supplies No wonder, then, that corporate officers and directors fear the prospect of rapidly declining stock value and other potential liabilities because of real estate assets that carry this stigma of MTBE contamination And, this risk of liability does not rest with just the producers of MTBE Rather, it can apply in any case where a corporation owns or leases property on which is located an underground storage tank containing gasoline However, corporations holding such contaminated real estate assets need not despair Although MTBE is viewed as a threat to health and the environment, and is not readily treatable by conventional site remediation approaches, the solution is out there History of Use MTBE was first associated with gasoline beginning in 1979, when the Atlantic Richfield Company was authorized by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) to add it to their gasoline formulation as an octane booster instead of lead MTBE is in a family of gasoline additives known as oxygenates, which improve the combustion of gasoline in engines and, thus, burn cleaner As a consequence, MTBE concentrations in unleaded gasoline increased, up to 15%, during the early 1990s. in response to the requirements of the US EPA's Clean Air Act for less air pollution Unfortunately, what the US EPA did not realize when it first authorized the use of MTBE, was that the compound would find its way to underground storage tanks that eventually leaked and released the MTBE into drinking water supplies Why The Fear? ittp //www mgkflaw com/articles/whosafraidofmtbe html 11/10/2004