Weitz & Luxenberg Lawyers Condemn Energy Bill Relating to MTBE
April 22, 2005 New York, NY New York Lawyers at Weitz & Luxenberg are
dismayed at the House of Representative’s approval of an energy bill that
protects major oil companies from water contamination lawsuits stemming from the
gasoline additive methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE). The bill also gives $2
billion to oil companies to help them foot the cost of phasing MTBE out of their
products.
In the late 1970s, the oil industry began adding MTBE to its
gasoline to act as an octane booster. In 1990, the Clean Air Act stipulated that
oil companies must oxygenate gasoline to reduce air pollution. Given their
choice of oxygenates, oil companies stuck by MTBE, which was a profit-making
by-product of their own refinery processes, despite the availability of
non-polluting oxygenates such as ethanol, the use of which would have benefited
the American farmer.
MTBE is highly water-soluble, resists
biodegradation, and moves rapidly in groundwater. If MTBE escapes from its
container via a leak or spill, it actively seeks out and contaminates
groundwater. Once MTBE has contaminated a drinking water source, its chemical
nature makes it extremely difficult, expensive, and time-consuming to remove.
Even small amounts of MTBE can render an entire community's groundwater supply
undrinkable, with an unpleasant turpentine-like taste and odor. The
Environmental Protection Agency has called MTBE “a potential human
carcinogen.”
Weitz & Luxenberg reviews MTBE cases
related to water systems that require remediation. We are not
litigating any personal injury claims involving MTBE.
Oil
companies argued that lawsuits brought by plaintiffs demanding that the
companies pay for the cost of MTBE cleanup are unfair, and that the
accountability for shouldering the cost of cleanup should fall on those directly
responsible for the spills, not the makers of oxygenated gasoline products.
Gasoline products from several companies are often run through common pipelines
before they end up at gas stations or underground storage tanks. If these
pipelines or storage tanks leaks, the results can be disastrous to a community’s
groundwater supply.
Weitz & Luxenberg, a leading player in MTBE
litigation, represents several water systems nationwide. On April 20, 2005, the
firm won a major victory in Manhattan’s Federal District Court when Judge Shira
A. Scheindlin ruled that oil companies including Exxon Mobil Corp., BP PLC,
Sunoco Inc., and Amerada Hess Corp., must defend dozens of lawsuits accusing
them of polluting groundwater with MTBE. The lawsuits seek to hold oil companies
responsible for the significant cost of MTBE cleanup in communities’ water
supplies.
The House-approved energy bill will be enacted only if the
Senate can pass legislation that both chambers agree on. If the bill passes both
chambers, President Bush will most likely sign it into law. The bill reflects
many of the President’s energy priorities, including massive tax breaks for the
oil and gas industry and opening the coastal plain of the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge and the waters of the Gulf of Mexico up to drilling for
oil.
If you are concerned about MTBE pollution in your community, you can
read the contents of the House Energy bill here.
Instead of
burdening taxpayers in affected areas with the costs of removing MTBE from their
drinking water, Weitz & Luxenberg will aggressively go after the oil
companies responsible. We want to do what is best not only for our clients, but
for the environment and future generations as well. You have a right to clean,
safe drinking water, and Weitz & Luxenberg is a powerful ally to have on
your side. If your municipality needs our help, please fill out this simple form.
see also:
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