MTBE and the environment
In 1990, the federal Clean Air Act was passed to improve air quality in the United States. President Bush's proposed amendments to the Clean Air Act initially would have led to the introduction of alternative, non-petroleum fuels. The petroleum and oxygenate industries responded by offering a reformulated gasoline program as a substitute for most of the alternate fuel proposals. As a result, the amendments to the federal Clean Air Act adopted in 1990 required steps to achieve lower vehicle emissions, including programs to oxygenate and reformulate gasoline. Oxygenated gasoline is designed to increase the combustion efficiency of gasoline, thereby reducing carbon monoxide emissions. Since January 1995, the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments require areas that have the most severe ozone pollution to use reformulated gasoline containing fuel oxygenates to improve air quality. Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether is one of the most commonly used fuel oxygenates because it is produced in very large amounts from isobutylene, a waste product in the refining process. MTBE can be easily produced at the refinery, at a low cost, and can be transferred through existing pipelines once it has been blended with gasoline. In contrast to other
AB 1491 prohibited delivery of gasoline to any underground fuel storage tank not in compliance with state and federal standards after January 1, 1999. " MTBE enters the environment, and eventually the groundwater, mainly from leaking underground fuel tanks and associated piping, but also from incomplete combustion in internal combustion engines, spilling and evaporation during transportation and refueling, and watercraft exhaust. AB 592 required several actions related to the contamination and clean up of groundwater by MTBE, and the funds to reimburse owners of contaminated drinking sources. Most studies have indicated that MTBE does not biodegrade easily under various environmental conditions. Animal tests performed in 1997 were not conducted by exposing animals to MTBE in drinking water, but rather by introducing oil containing MTBE directly into their stomachs several times a week. District Court in Wilmington, North Carolina, awarded 9. Of the contaminated sites tested, 36% had MTBE levels above the state's proposed drinking water standard. MTBE moves quickly to shallow groundwater because it is not attached to soil particles, and is chemically attracted to water molecules. As a result, Governor Gray Davis ordered MTBE to be banned in California by December 2002. If a research investigation determines that a compound does not degrade, a half-life is not reported and the compound is classified as recalcitrant. The Environmental Protection Agency has classified MTBE as a possible human carcinogen, but no drinking-water regulation has been established for the compound. There are no studies of effects on humans of long term exposure to MTBE.
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Acceptance Essays
