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r;ot CALIFORNIA RENAL WATER QUALITY CONTROL SO Ca�PA <br /> CENTRAL VALL EGION <br /> 3443 Rouser Road,Sane 0 <br /> �` co Sac-ameaw,CA 95827-3098 <br /> . "'�� Phone(916) 255-3000 <br /> FAX(916)255-3015 Go�dr r <br /> 18 July 1997 - <br /> To Whom It May Concern <br /> ANALYSIS REQUIRED FOR OXYGENATE COMPOUNDS USED 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 to groundwaters. The list includes,in order of <br /> analytical identiacation: <br /> I. Methanol <br /> 2. Ethanol <br /> 3. Tertiary Butanol <br /> A. MTBE <br /> 5. Di-isopropyl ether (RIPE) <br /> 6. Ethyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (ME) <br /> 7. Tertiary Amyl Methyl Ether (TAME) <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,TAME, manufactured by Chevron,has been added to California fuels. DIPE has been <br /> used on the East Coast,butzecently 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 the <br /> number of analyses required and internal interference. For instance, TAME is difficult to <br /> distinguish because it co-elutes with benzene m 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 distinguish between the compounds,EPA 8260 is the single,provisional method of <br /> analvsis for these comocunds. <br /> This problem is further compounded because the oil refineries ship gasoline around the state <br /> and then trade gasoline between o oo aphic a--as. For instance,if gasoline is needed-ir the <br /> San Francisco Bay area by Snell, Shell-will obtain some gasoline from, say, Chevron in the Bay <br /> area and, in exchange, Chevron wi1L receive some Shell gasoline in Southern California. The <br /> 2rryded Paper Ow mission it to preserve mtd alta rhe atraluy ofCalifornia:w reso w.mtd <br /> aurae[heir proper allocation and gj==t u far the=wit of preraa and wave ga+aationt <br />