Ethics Newsline®

WASHINGTON
The U.S. government last week sent conflicting signals on clean-up plans for a dangerous gasoline additive called MTBE, with a federal judge okaying a massive lawsuit against MTBE’s makers while Congress moved to shield the industry from liability.

Between 80 and 100 lawsuits have been filed against the makers of methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE), a gasoline additive that helps cars run cleaner, but also easily contaminates groundwater.

MTBE has fouled more than 1,800 community water systems in 29 states and poses a potential clean-up cost of $29 billion, according to U.S. House Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.).

Water providers, towns, counties, cities, and at least one U.S. state have filed suit against the compound’s manufacturers, accusing them of knowing about MTBE’s dangers but hiding them from the public.

Last week, a federal judge in New York said those suits — now consolidated into one federal legal action — can proceed, setting up a massive legal fight for firms including ExxonMobil, BP, and Sunoco.

“Innocent water providers — and ultimately innocent water users — should not be denied relief from the contamination of their water supply if defendants breached a duty to avoid an unreasonable risk of harm from their products,” ruled Judge Shira Scheindlin of the Federal District Court in Manhattan.

That decision, however, would be rendered moot under legislative action approved last week by the U.S. House of Representatives, which moved to shield MTBE’s makers from liability for the contamination.

Under the House’s approved energy bill, MTBE manufacturers would be immunized from most lawsuits, would be given $2 billion to wean themselves of the product, and would have until 2014 to phase it out completely.

That waiver, approved by a narrow 219-to-213 vote, was championed by Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), whose state is home to some of the lawsuits’ lead defendants, noted the Associated Press.

“They’re not giving MTBE manufacturers a slap on the wrist. They’re giving them a pat on the back,” criticized Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), according to the Associated Press. “It is the taxpayers who are stuck with the bill.”

Unlike the House, the U.S. Senate has balked at immunizing the MTBE industry from liability, quashing the energy bill in 2003 over concerns about the waiver and possibly setting the stage for a similar battle this year, according to the New York Times.