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Issues Concerning the Use of MTBE in Reformulated Gasoline: An Update.
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
Ms. Denise Chamberlain
Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee: Good
morning. My name is Denise
Chamberlain and I am Deputy Secretary of Air, Recycling and Radiation Protection
for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. I am accompanied by
Arleen Shulman from our Air Quality Program. On
behalf of DEP Secretary Hess, I would like to thank Chairman Greenwood, Ranking
Member Deutsch, and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations for the
opportunity to speak with you about a problem faced not only by Pennsylvania but
also by many states in our nation: meeting protective air quality standards
without compromising our environmental and public health responsibilities for
other media. As
you know, the federal Clean Air Act directly mandates that certain areas of the
country use reformulated gasoline (RFG) with its two percent oxygen mandate.
In Pennsylvania, this affects the five-county Philadelphia area.
While the RFG Program does not mandate specific oxygenates, economics has
led refiners in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic region to use methyl tertiary-butyl
ether (MTBE) to meet the oxygen requirement. Reformulated
gasoline has been an important part of our overall strategy in the Philadelphia
area to reduce automotive exhaust emissions of ground-level ozone and toxics.
Its use has had a positive air benefit by lowering cancer risks and
respiratory effects to people exposed to vehicle pollution.
But the importance of oxygenates in reformulated gasoline's air
benefits is questionable. A
cruel dilemma has resulted for Pennsylvania and many other states from MTBE's
use. Because of the oxygen mandate
in reformulated gasoline requiring high levels of MTBE in gasoline, MTBE has
contaminated our groundwater. Fifty-five
percent (55%) of Pennsylvania relies on groundwater for its drinking water
supplies. Even in its tiniest
proportions, 5 parts per billion, MTBE has an easily detectable smell -
turpentine -- making drinking water supplies undrinkable. Unlike other
components of gasoline, MTBE dissolves and spreads more readily in groundwater,
does not degrade easily, and is difficult and costly to remove. Accidental
releases at dispensing sites, leaking product pipelines and leaks from
underground storage tanks have forced wells to close, run up millions of dollars
in cleanup costs, spurred state legislative action, sparked lawsuits and has
generated significant national concern about the continued addition of MTBE in
gasoline. In
Southeast Pennsylvania, the area using reformulated gasoline with its elevated
MTBE levels, the effect has been most dramatic.
Over forty percent (40%) of public and private wells affected by MTBE
contamination in Pennsylvania are in our Southeast region.
For example, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, one release from an
underground storage tank affected private residential wells in three
municipalities. In an area within 2,500 ft of the leak, 27 public drinking water
wells were contaminated. Twenty
percent (20%) of those wells had MTBE concentrations above the EPA advisory
level. Another example -- in Blue Bell, Montgomery County, 13 private water
supplies were impacted by the release from one location. MTBE
contamination problems are not restricted to Southeast Pennsylvania. Within the
Commonwealth, 1,619 sites have MTBE groundwater contamination. 45 are public
water supply wells and 363 are single-family wells.
Since 1998, the Commonwealth alone has spent almost $7 million on cleanup
with another $4.2 million budgeted for future cleanups. Now
we have to deal with that legacy of contamination.
Some of the initiatives in our action plan include:
We've
talked about what we've done to begin to address MTBE already in the
groundwater and to prevent contamination in the future from leaks and spills. It
is clear that our actions are addressing the effect of the problem, but we need
your help to deal with the root cause. The
long-term solution, however, is to reduce or eliminate the use of MTBE in
reformulated gasoline. We need to
do this in a way that the air quality benefits realized by reformulated gasoline
will not be lost and in a manner that will not significantly disrupt our
nation's fuel supply or force Americans to pay exorbitant prices at the pump.
How can Pennsylvania do this? The
answer is that we can't do it alone. Some
states have tried to go their own way. California and New York, among others,
passed state legislation that has banned the use of MTBE. The result in these
states has been considerable uncertainty about what happens after the bans take
effect. Without relief from the federal government regarding the oxygenate
requirement, MTBE banning states must use ethanol to meet the requirement.
Estimates appear to change almost daily about whether ethanol can be produced in
sufficient quantities to meet California's requirements and, even if it can be
produced, California is now questioning if that supply can be adequately
transported to California refineries and fuel terminals. If more states
are forced to independently ban MTBE in response to the threat to precious water
supplies, the logistics of ethanol replacement could become even more
problematic. The result could well be fuel supply disruption and higher prices
to consumers at a time when our economy, and national priorities, may not be
able to afford it. Congress
has the ability and the opportunity to provide a stable solution to the problem
as well as remove the incentives that states have at this time to enact MTBE
bans and invent special fuels to serve their air quality and water quality
needs. Pennsylvania continues to
support legislation introduced by Representative Greenwood that would control or
limit the use of MTBE on a national level and allow a state waiver from the 2%
oxygenate requirement in reformulated gasoline. We think this is a reasonable
compromise in our efforts to have clean air but not at the expense of polluting
groundwater. H.R.
20 addresses the major concerns of not only Pennsylvania but also all the other
states across the country. It
protects water quality through limits on the use of MTBE. It allows states to
seek a waiver from the oxygenate content requirements. It calls for regional
performance standards that ensure that levels of reductions achieved under the
reformulated gasoline program are maintained in areas where waivers are granted
and reduces the potential for boutique fuel proliferation. It ensures that
adequate lead-time is given to make modifications to our fuel refining and
distribution systems that assure adequate fuel supply for all states.
It provides the refining industry with the ability to meet the
reformulated gasoline requirements without hamstringing them with the
unnecessary oxygenate mandate. In
contrast, maintaining the oxygen mandate in reformulated gasoline while phasing
out MTBE may ultimately be a mandate for the direct substitution of ethanol. While ethanol, a renewable fuel, definitely can play a
role in the energy security of this nation, using it as a direct replacement in
the Northeast for MTBE in reformulated gasoline raises air quality issues that
require serious consideration involving increased volatile organic compound
emissions, in addition to concerns of supply and price.
As
the Subcommittee continues to study the issues of MTBE, special fuels and the
nation's fuel supply system, we urge you to keep in mind the needs of states
like Pennsylvania. We need to continue to reduce air pollution and may need to
rely on fuel strategies to do so. Fuels
can be a powerful emission reduction measure, as reformulated gasoline and
upcoming federal rules lowering sulfur in both gasoline and diesel shows. So,
we ask that Congress give EPA and us the tools to help us protect both air and
water and not sacrifice one for the other.
Mr.
Chairman, that concludes my testimony. Thank
you for providing me with this opportunity to testify.
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