The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“METHYL TERTIARY BUTYL ETHER” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S1695-S1696 on March 8, 2002.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
METHYL TERTIARY BUTYL ETHER
Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire. Madam President, I want to speak briefly on four issues this morning. Let me start, first, with the issue of MTBE, which is probably not a household word in many States. It is methyl tertiary butyl ether. I will be calling it MTBE from now on in these remarks.
Over the past few years, countless families and businesses in my State and throughout the Nation have learned firsthand the devastating effect of this gasoline additive known as MTBE. It is in our drinking water. People can't shower because of the smell. They cannot drink the water. Their homes have to have three or four huge tanks with filters in order to be able to drink and use their water. It depreciates the value of their home. This is a real problem nationally.
Fortunately, there is help on the way. I am very pleased that the energy package we are now considering finally contains a solution.
I thank the majority leader for including my legislation in the Federal Reform Leaded Fuels Act in the energy package that we are debating. This legislation was voted out of committee both last Congress and this Congress. I am pleased that it will finally get a vote, I hope, on the Senate floor.
I thank a lot of people who helped. This does not come easy. We all have strong views. We have a number of different interests: Those who produce the MTBE, those who produce ethanol, those who refine gasoline, those regions of the country that can't use ethanol for various reasons, and those who are worried about the higher cost, if they do.
It took a lot of compromise and a lot of negotiations, which we have been working on now for many months--particularly Senator Reid of Nevada, Senator Voinovich, Senator Jeffords, Senator Inhofe, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Senator Hagel, and Senator Murkowski--there are others, but in particular their hard work and cooperation with my staff.
I also want to say that the refiners, the ethanol producers, the environmental groups--all of them--have worked with me over the last few years to reach a consensus. It was not easy, that is for sure, with so many diverse issues and views.
I thank all of them for negotiating in good faith and keeping the work product to ourselves as we went through this.
The result is good. It is a comprehensive legislative package that protects our drinking water while preserving air quality and minimizing negative impacts on gasoline prices and supply.
Understanding where we are, it is worth taking a step back to discuss how and why we got to this point.
In 1990, the Clean Air Act was amended to include a reformulated gasoline program. This program requires clean burning gasoline in specified areas with high levels of air pollution. Four counties in southern New Hampshire chose to participate. The program has been successful in achieving the air quality benefits beyond our requirements.
Unfortunately, one provision of the program mandates the use of an oxygenate in areas that use reformulated gas, requiring States to use MTBE or ethanol. Because New Hampshire is far from ethanol production, economics dictated that MTBE be chosen as the oxygenate. There was also concern with the impact ethanol could have on the air quality of New Hampshire, particularly the potential of increased smog.
So the State chose MTBE. Of course, at that time no one was aware of the looming nightmare as a result of that choice. What we put in the gasoline to clean up the air has now contaminated our water.
How does that happen? Because the tanks underground that hold the gasoline leak, or after you fill up your tank with gasoline and you take the nozzle out, a drop or two of the gasoline may hit the pavement, and then it washes away into our ground water.
I remind all who are listening to me now, think about that when you put that nozzle back: Don't let any of that gasoline drip, not even a drop, because it goes so quickly into the water supply.
MTBE is a clean, cheap gasoline additive that boosts octane. It is a very effective product. But it migrates through the ground and into the water table and the aquifer very quickly and diffuses quickly. At even low levels of contamination, MTBE renders water unusable because of its foul odor and taste.
Particularly hard hit by the MTBE contamination are the communities in the southern tier of New Hampshire, such as Salem, Derry, and Raymond. I have come to the Senate Chamber on several occasions to speak specifically about these families and small businesses that have been impacted by the MTBE contamination, continuing to reiterate the desperate need that the Senate take action. Time after time, in committee, month after month, I have almost begged the Senate to take action on this matter because it isn't fair that people, in the interests of making a profit, selling one product, should do it at the expense of those whose health is being impacted by contaminated water.
I spoke to the Miller family--Christina and Greg, and their son Nathan--who live in Derry, NH. This young family has been struggling for over 3 years with MTBE contamination in their well--not being able to drink the water, not being able to shower. I have spent time at the Four Corners Store and surrounding homes in the town of Richmond. Gasoline in those tanks spread from that location into the aquifers of the surrounding homes. This plume has contaminated a number of private wells near that store. I visited some of those families who have those wells. We went down in the basements and saw these large tanks with filters. When a prospective buyer comes to look at the house, what are they going to think? The first question is: What is this?
The Goulas and Frampton families were kind enough to invite me into their homes and show me this massive treatment system that had been installed by the State. The answer is, yes, we are getting the filters, we are getting the help, the remediation we need, but that does not take care of the problem.
We do not want more homes contaminated. Once we remove the MTBE, then it is not going to get anymore into their wells. Once it is cleaned up, they will be able to use their water again.
We take for granted, in this country, the fact we can turn that faucet on and get a clean drink of water or take a shower and not have to smell the water. These are cumbersome systems that have to be set up, and costly to operate, not to mention the concerns and fears they face on a daily basis.
There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of stories similar to these New Hampshire examples of nightmares that are the result of MTBE contamination.
We made a mistake. The Government made a mistake. They put MTBE in gasoline to clean up the air, not knowing the harm they were doing. We did not do enough research and science, and we made a terrible mistake. We have to correct it. We have to do it now.
To help understand the magnitude of the problem in New Hampshire alone, it is worth noting just a couple of statistics.
The State Department of Environmental Services in New Hampshire estimates that up to 40,000 private wells in New Hampshire have some MTBE contamination.
In the year 2000, over 16 percent of the public water supplies had detected levels of MTBE. Almost 20 percent of that public water with MTBE contamination is at levels above the State drinking water standard.
The State has had to buy bottled water. I mentioned the installation of the expensive treatment equipment with contaminated wells.
Currently, New Hampshire has two dedicated State funds and a federally funded program that are used to address MTBE problems.
During discussions with State officials, I learned that the money is running low and will soon run out if new sources of funding are not found. This is a crisis. We have to deal with it.
New Hampshire is not alone. Many other States have had to address problems from MTBE contamination. I know the distinguished Senator from California, Mrs. Feinstein, and I have talked about this a number of times.
This is a bipartisan issue. It is not a partisan issue. This is a national problem. It has to be addressed at the national level because to not do so would force communities to say, we are going to ban MTBE, and they would be in violation of the Clean Air Act.
So this legislation I have written is an effective solution. I am pleased that the energy package includes the text of that legislation. Specifically, it bans MTBE, provides money for the cleanup of MTBE, eliminates the oxygen mandate in the RFG program, and maintains the current level of air quality protection. There is no backsliding.
In addition, the legislation requires the EPA to conduct an expedited review of State petitions to suspend the oxygen mandate in the RFG program. If the EPA fails to complete the review of a State petition within 30 days, the petition will automatically be granted. This provision could allow New Hampshire to begin to eliminate MTBE from the fuel system even before the oxygen mandate is lifted.
I have promised to help New Hampshire in any way possible to stop the use of MTBE and I promise those families the same thing. We owe it to them. The Senators who are not from New Hampshire owe it to them, as I would help those in other States who have similar problems. And there are those in other States who have similar problems.
Finally, the language includes $2 million for the research of techniques to clean up bedrock contamination and to establish a clearinghouse for sharing the information. This is a huge increase beyond the pilot study currently funded.
The greatest difficulty, according to Dr. Nancy Kinner, a scientist from the University of New Hampshire, is tracking and cleaning up MTBE in fractured bedrock. This research will help to address that problem. It has not been an easy deal to reach, but a lot of people participated. They came in with the right approach, understanding the desperate need those families have.
Again, I thank the majority leader, and all of the Senators involved. I particularly thank Chris Hessler and Melinda Cross from my staff for their help, and Dave Conover, of course, for his assistance in helping me to work through this.
Madam President, I see there are no other Senators in the Chamber. I ask unanimous consent to speak for an additional 10 minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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