State Senate Republican Leader Louis C. DeLuca (R-Woodbury) today commended the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for eliminating the outdated mandate from the Clean Air Act that requires states to sell gasoline treated with oxygenates, such as ethanol or Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE). MTBE has proven to be a health hazard in its own right, polluting hundreds of wells in Connecticut and leaving many residents without clean drinking water.
Senator DeLuca was the prime sponsor of legislation passed in 2000 that eliminated the use of MTBE in the state’s gasoline supplies, but the EPA mandate still required the state to purchase costly ethanol treated gasoline. Senator DeLuca argued during the MTBE debate that neither additive was necessary because newer vehicles have exhaust systems that run much more cleanly than those from 1990 when the Clean Air Act was passed.
“I am very pleased that the EPA finally understood what we have been saying all along – today’s automobiles run clean enough that they do not need dangerous additives like MTBE or ethanol to adhere to clean air standards,” said Senator DeLuca. “The MTBE ‘solution’ was an environmental disaster that continues to impact the lives of hundreds of Connecticut residents who have had their potable water supplies tainted by the chemical. Ethanol did not pose the health risks, but it was an unneeded nuisance that reduced gas mileage and raised prices at the pumps. I could not be happier that the Federal government has shown both chemicals to the door.”
MTBE is a gasoline additive that has contaminated hundreds of ground wells in Connecticut and has proven carcinogenic in laboratory animals. When spilled it moves quickly through groundwater and is exceptionally difficult to remove. Ethanol does not pose the same health hazards, but it has been blamed for lowering gas mileage, and is believed to add up to an additional 8-cents per gallon to the price of gas at the pump. |
