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CALIFORNIA REG IAL WATER QUALITY CONTROL BOAF Cal/EPA <br /> CENTRAL VALLE umc—EGION <br /> ` 3443 Roux er Road Swire A <br /> �'• Sacramento, CA 95827-3098 <br /> Phone(916) 255-3000 <br /> FAX(916) 255-3015 -'etc V&w3m,Govervr <br /> 18 July 1997 - <br /> To Whom It May Concern <br /> ANALYSIS REQU= FOR OXYGENATE CONOOUN-DS US-ED IN CALIFORNIA <br /> GASOLINE- EPA METHOD 8260 <br /> At a recent meeting at the Department of Health Services in Berkeley, the statewide analytical <br /> methods committee for establishing analytical TPH and additive standards, was informed That <br /> oxygenate compounds, other than MTBE, have been and are being added to California <br /> gasoline which may constitute a threat b groundwate*s_ The list includes, in order of <br /> analytical identification <br /> 1. Methanol <br /> 2_ Ethanol <br /> 3. Tertiary Butanol <br /> A. MTBE <br /> S. Di-isopropyl ether (DIPE) <br /> 6. Ethyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (ETRE) <br /> 7. Tertiary Amyl Methyl Ether (TA-\,f E) <br /> The first three are alcohols and the latter four are ether compounds. Ethanol has been used for <br /> several years in California. MTBE, as you know,has been used as an octane enhancer additive <br /> since the late 1970s and is now used at a higher percentage as'an oxygenate in gasoline.. Since <br /> 1995, T-AIY E,manufactured by Chevron,has ben added to California fuel. DIPE has been <br /> used on the East Coast,butx ecentiy has been found in Southern California ground water (May <br /> 1997). To date,we have no information regarding the use.-of ETBE in California, <br /> The introduction of these additives present analytical problems for laboratories because of tine <br /> number of analyses required and intenzal tnte fie-ence. For instance,T-AIY E is duncult to <br /> distingavish because it co-+.dutes with benzene in the EPA-8020 analytical method commonly <br /> used today. Therefore,the analytical methods committee concurred that EPA-8260 is required <br /> to determine which compound has been used- This analytical method will likely increase the <br /> cost of sample analysis;but, until another comprehensive analytical method is developed that <br /> can disting* betwe-en the comp_ ounds,EPA 8260 is �e sin;ie,provisional method of <br /> analysis for these compounds_ <br /> This problem is further compounded because the oil reanenes ship gasoiine around the state <br /> and then trade gasoline between�e-o-dgaphic n---as- For instance,if gasoline is needed-in the <br /> San Francesco Bay area by She-11, o Snell will obtain some soiine from, say, Chevron in the Bav <br /> area and, in exc*iange, Chevron will receive some Snell gasoline in Southern California. The <br /> .�Yec,+elea'Pacer <br /> Our nu=n i to m=ff w mrd achamc the auaLicy of Calfformet-wQxw-r=osoret,mrd <br /> VuW-C thea groper alloctaun mrd a_jia�rtselror Ise aoaetit afPre wN mrd)rarat gerruaQo>s� <br />