EPA strikes out on MTBE
By Bonner Cohen
Copyright 1999 Washington Times
August 9, 1999
"There isn't a decision I make on any given day that's not related to the health
of the American people."
EPA Administrator Carol Browner
Forbes Magazine, October 20, 1997
In taking the Hippocratic oath, fledgling physicians solemnly
pledge they will,
"First, do no harm." That the oath has survived over the centuries is eloquent testimony that those
who oversee the medical profession's code of conduct recognize the unique
responsibility doctors have to protect the health of people in their care.
Unfortunately, federal regulatory agencies, even those acting in the name of
public
health, have no equivalent to the Hippocratic oath. More concerned with
procedures than with outcomes, the regulatory behemoths that inhabit Washington
are constantly on the lookout for ways to expand their power. And if this
sometimes means rushing ahead with a grandiose scheme without a proper
understanding of the elements involved, then so be it.
The
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) misadventure with the gasoline additive MTBE is a case in point. Once
embraced by
EPA as an effective weapon in the agency's war on air pollution, MTBE (methyl
tertiary butyl ether) has become an outcast. Its fall from grace was
brought on by public outcry over the presence of MTBE in the nation's drinking
water supply.
On July 27 an
EPA-appointed blue-ribbon panel grimly announced it was recommending that the use
of MTBE be
"reduced substantially" because it turns up in groundwater
after leaking from gas stations and underground storage tanks. Even though
most detections were well below levels that pose a risk to public health,
enough people from Maine to California had been frightened and enough water
systems contaminated for the panel to urge radically changing course.
What's remarkable
about the panel's findings is that they are not based on any new data. The
panel's members simply reviewed the same data that had been available to
EPA for years. But while
EPA has been a tireless cheerleader for MTBE and other so-called
"reformulated" gasolines, the panel reviewed the data and
came to an entirely different conclusion. In truth,
EPA was caught off guard about the problems associated with MTBE because it never
bothered to conduct a scientific evaluation of the health effects of oxygenated
fuels - not just MTBE, but also ethanol and methanol. What's worse, it ignored
warnings from its own scientists years ago that MTBE could make its way into
ground water.
EPA's MTBE debacle got under way in 1990 with the enactment of a host of amendments
to the Clean Air Act. One of those amendments instructed
EPA to develop a reformulated gasoline program for the
nation's most polluted cities, with the goal of reducing carbon monoxide
emissions from cars and trucks.
EPA unveiled its reformulated gasoline program with great fanfare in 1993 and
promptly mandated the use of what it touted as cleaner-burning oxygenated fuels
in 39 metropolitan areas beginning in
1995.
In accordance with
EPA's new policy, oil companies were required to supply the targeted metropolitan
areas with oxygenated fuels. While some oil refiners chose corn-based ethanol,
most decided to use octane-boosting MTBE. When added to standard gasoline,
MTBE raises its oxygen
content, which in turn reduces emissions of carbon monoxide, particularly in
older vehicles.
Such was the theory, and in practice MTBE did improve air quality in the cities
where it was in use. It did so, however, at a cost that ultimately negated
whatever benefits it achieved.
Had
EPA
looked before it leaped, it would have noticed a most unsettling characteristic
of MTBE. Unlike standard gasoline, which, when spilled or leaked, does not
spread far and breaks down over time, MTBE is highly soluble in water. Once it
reaches ground water it spreads
rapidly.
EPA's own scientists had warned of just such a likelihood in a study released for
external review in December 1992. The study,
"Alternative Fuels Research Strategy," (EPA: 600-AT-92/002) set up a framework for comparative risk
assessments of MTBE, ethanol, ETBE, methanol and compressed natural gas.
Written in the hope that its findings would generate a full-fledged research
program at
EPA to investigate alternative fuels, the study instead did little more than
gather dust at the agency. Its warnings went unheeded.
Sure
enough, in 1996, MTBE was detected in the water system of Santa Monica, Calif.,
as a result of leaks from gas stations and underground storage tanks. By 1998,
MTBE had been found in water in more than 10,000 locations throughout Central
and Northern California. When present in
large enough quantities, MTBE gives off an offensive odor and turns water a
murky shade of brown. With political pressure building in affected communities
and in Congress to do something about the problem, Carol Browner finally set up
her blue-ribbon panel.
Cleaning
up the mess that is
EPA's reformulated gas program is going to take years. There isn't enough ethanol
to replace MTBE, putting the whole alternative fuels program in doubt. Gas
prices are likely to go up in those states still under
EPA's reformulated gasoline mandate, as production of
MTBE is cut back. Oil companies don't know whether the $7 billion they spent converting their refineries to make MTBE will ever be
recouped.
Much of this could have been avoided if
EPA had followed the advice of its own scientists and familiarized itself with the
properties of the chemicals it was putting into communities across the nation.
EPA knows older
underground storage tanks are prone to leaks, and an adequate understanding of
the peculiarities of MTBE would have alerted the agency to trouble ahead. In
fact, Carol Browner's agency didn't raise a finger until political pressure
forced it to do so.
And she talks about protecting public health?
Bonner
R. Cohen is a senior fellow at the Lexington Institute in Arlington.
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