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Issues Concerning the Use of MTBE in Reformulated Gasoline: An Update.
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
Mr. David Kahlenberg
We would like to thank
Representative Greenwood and the distinguished members of this subcommittee for
the opportunity to relay our personal experiences with MTBE
contamination in drinking water during this hearing. Our main concerns regarding the
use of MTBE in gasoline stem from the potential contamination that can occur in
groundwater, specifically in areas in close proximity to drinking water sources.
The quality and taste of drinking water that is contaminated is affected,
and there are potential unknown health affects of ingesting the contaminated
water and from inhalation of vapors from the affected water in every day life.
Further, there are no federal standards for what is considered an
acceptable level of MTBE contamination in drinking water.
State regulations vary and begin at 5
ppb in California but can be significantly higher in other states. We reside at 3714 St. George
Circle, Doylestown, PA in Buckingham Township.
Our house is located approximately 2,550 feet from the Exxon In October 2000, we learned of
MTBE contamination to the groundwater in our area by the two gas stations
located at Poole's Corner through an off-hand conversation with a co-worker
who also lives in the immediate area; not from the PA DEP, the townships or
Exxon At that point, we began
researching information regarding the Poole's Corner contamination and general
information regarding MTBE through town meetings, newspapers, the internet and
conversations with other residents. As
a precautionary measure from potential health affects, we stopped utilizing our
well water for drinking, however, we continued to use the water from our well
for bathing and cooking. On November 6, 2000, we called
the Exxon hotline set up for residents of the Poole's Corner area to discuss
our situation. We were referred to
Mr. Barry Wood of ExxonMobil.
He explained at that time, the testing would occur only on houses within
a 2,500-foot radius of the gas stations, as mandated by the PA DEP.
Because our house is located one parcel beyond the established radius,
our house would not be tested. We
requested sampling anyway due to our concern over the potential for having
contaminated drinking water due to the potential health affects to our then
two-year-old child. However, Mr.
Wood reviewed with us the test results from all of the houses tested located on
Yorkshire Road and Knights Way, the streets adjacent to, or facing, our house. All of the tested houses on these streets had shown a
non-detectable level of MTBE. At
this time, no tests had been performed on parcels located on St. George Circle.
At the end of our conversation, Mr. Wood indicated they would contact us,
should any of the results in our immediate area show a detectable level. On December 12,2000, CulliganÒ
(a vendor for residential, commercial, industrial water treatment products and
services) came to our house to perform the regular periodic service of our
well's neutralizer and test the hardness levels in our water, due to an odd
taste we were experiencing in our water. During
this service
call, we were shocked to learn from CulliganÒ
that our next door neighbors at 3710 St. George Circle, also outside of the
2,500 foot radius, were tested by ExxonMobil
and had detectable levels of MTBE in their drinking water.
CulliganÒ
was aware of the MTBE contamination present at my neighbor's home because in
response to confirming the MTBE contamination at my neighbor's home, they were
contracted by ExxonMobil
In response to learning that
our immediate next-door neighbors drinking water was contaminated with MTBE, on
December 13, 2000, we again contacted Mr. Barry Wood, Dana Cozza (Special
Projects Manager in Buckingham Township) and Sarah Pantelidou (the PA DEP
Poole's Corner Project Manager). Much
to our dismay, Mr. Wood informed us that ExxonMobil
would not pay for our well water to be sampled because our house was located
outside of the pre-established 2,500 foot radius. In the opinion of ExxonMobil,
they were not responsible for any contamination of the wells located in our
immediate vicinity. Subsequently, at our own
expense, we decided to have our well tested independently by a state-certified
laboratory to put our minds at ease, completely hoping we also had non-detect
levels. The results from the water
samples collected from our home on December 18, 2000 indicated that our drinking
water was contaminated with MTBE. In
fact, MTBE was present in our drinking water at a level 11.8 ppb, which is more
than two times higher than the acceptable level of MTBE in drinking water in the
state of California, but yet also slightly more than half the acceptable level
in Pennsylvania. Upon receiving these test
results on January 8, 2001, we immediately contacted Mr. Barry Wood, Sarah
Pantelidou, and Dana Cozza to informed them of our test results.
Mr. Wood informed us that he was not sure which course of action Exxon
would take on this matter and told us that he would get back in touch with us
with an answer. After these
conversations, we began to notify our neighbors of our situation, so they would
be aware and could take the appropriate precautions.
We were shocked to learn that some of our neighbors were not even aware
of the contamination at Poole's Corner, let alone the potential affect to
their house, including neighbors who moved into the neighborhood in September
2000. At this time, we also sent
information to Pe On January 12, 2001, Barry Wood
informed us that ExxonMobil
agreed to repeat the sampling of our well and if MTBE was detected in our well
that ExxonMobil
would pay to have a whole house carbon filtration system installed at our house.
On January 13, 2001, Geological Services Corporation (GSC) on behalf of
ExxonMobil
sampled our potable water. The
results of this testing confirmed the MTBE contamination and ExxonMobil
subsequently had a treatment system installed at our residence and put us on a
bottled water delivery service. After
the installation of this water treatment system, GSC collected water samples on
January 31, 2001, which confirmed that at that time, the carbon filter system
that was installed is effectively removing MTBE from our drinking water.
However, ExxonMobil
still does not claim responsibility for the MTBE contamination in our well. In a letter to the community of
Buckingham Township from ExxonMobil, dated June 6, 2001, ExxonMobil formally
announced they do not feel responsible for the contamination of wells located in
our immediate location. This
determination was based on the Site Characterization Report for the Exxon
facility submitted to the PA DEP on April 24, 2001.
Neither ExxonMobil nor the PA DEP have offered reasonable alternate
potential sources of our contamination. Based
on these statements, ExxonMobil will no longer sample our well, or maintain our
treatment system. All maintenance
and testing is our complete responsibility.
The cost of maintenance of the treatment system and having our water
tested has been estimated between $1,000 and $2,000 annually. In speaking with the PA DEP,
there is a lack of site characterization data for our immediate area.
Based on our previous limited knowledge of hydrogeology, we feel there
are no other reasonable potential sources for the MTBE contamination in our
potable well other than the ExxonMobil sites, but we do not have the resources
necessary to complete the hydrogeologic studies of our area. Since then we have learned that
Exxon Given the results of the first
groundwater samples collected from the site in 1992 indicated MTBE
contamination, it is likely that the now known to be contaminated wells in the
Poole's Corner area have probably been affected since that time.
It has taken eight years for the residents living in the immediate
vicinity to be notified of the situation, during which time, each family could
have taken precautionary measures to not be exposed to potential carcinogens.
Also important to note, even after formal submission of the Site
Characterization Plan, ExxonMobil has not determined how the contamination
occurred, so it is possible that other gas stations could cause contamination of
ground water and never know what happened or how to prevent contamination in the
future. David Kahlenberg
Jill Kahlenberg
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