Testimony of Thomas V. Skinner, Director

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency

Before the Senate Subcommittee on Research, Nutrition and General Legislation

April 18, 2000

I am honored to appear before you today to discuss two very important issues to the environment of Illinois and the nation -- the use of clean-burning reformulated gasoline ("RFG") and the threat of MTBE to our drinking water supplies.

The use of RFG in the Chicago area has been an unqualified success. We estimate that it's use in 1999 reduced emissions of ozone-forming volatile organic compounds by about 65 tons per day in 1999. Additionally, the use of RFG reduces emissions of toxic air pollutants, such as benzene, as compared to conventional gasoline. These benefits have resulted in improved air quality in the Chicago area and a dozen other large urban areas throughout the country.

However, one of the compounds that is assisting in providing us these air quality benefits is now threatening our nations drinking water supplies. In order to provide more complete fuel combustion, the Clean Air Act requires that RFG contain a minimum of 2.0 weight percent oxygen. The two primary compounds used to provide oxygen to a fuel are ethanol and methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE. Ethanol has been blended in the overwhelming majority of Chicago area RFG since the beginning of the program in 1995 with no adverse effects. But, gasoline producers have largely chosen to use MTBE as the RFG oxygenate in the remainder of the country. As we are now learning, this choice has brought an unwelcome side effect.

Contamination of drinking water supplied from MTBE is being reported from New York to California. Leaks from underground storage tanks, the use of MTBE containing fuel in marine engines, and even auto accidents have been linked to detections of MTBE in groundwater. MTBE is an organic chemical which is highly soluble in water and travels faster and further in soil than other gasoline constituents. MTBE is also persistent in that it degrades very slowly by natural chemical or biological processes within the soil or groundwater environment. Public water supplies in Santa Monica and South Lake Tahoe, California have been forced to close their wells due to MTBE contamination. MTBE has been detected in more than 100 public water supplies in New York. In Illinois, where MTBE is not significantly blended into RFG, detections of MTBE have been found in 26 public water supplies. Three of our community water supplies, East Alton, Island Lake, and Oakdale Acres, had to discontinue use of wells as a result of MTBE contamination.

Concerns regarding the growing number of reports of MTBE contamination prompted the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency ("USEPA") to appoint a Blue Ribbon Panel to study the use of oxygenates in RFG. In July 1999, this panel recommended that the use of MTBE should be substantially reduced. Since then, the States of California, and New York have banned its use. In Illinois, the City of Chicago adopted a resolution demanding that state and federal officials take action to prevent the use of MTBE in gasoline in the Chicago area.

Responding to these concerns, last month the USEPA issued a legislative framework to encourage immediate Congressional action to reduce or eliminate the use of MTBE. USEPA recommended that Congress amend the Clean Air Act to provide the authority to phase-out MTBE usage. USEPA also called for the removal of the RFG oxygenate requirement. While I believe that the most appropriate means to address the MTBE issue on the national level, and support its removal, I disagree with the recommendation to remove the oxygenate requirement. The groundwater contamination issue is an MTBE problem, not an oxygenate problem.

The ethanol-based RFG program in Chicago has experienced none of the problems being reported in MTBE-focused areas throughout the country. Ethanol, due the higher oxygen content than MTBE, provides additional carbon monoxide and toxic air emissions reduction benefits. By removing the oxygenate requirement we risk losing the current level of emissions reductions currently being achieved. Ethanol also readily and harmlessly biodegrades in the environment proving no risk to drinking water supplies. The California Environmental Policy Council recently unanimously approved reports which found no air quality, water quality, or health concerns associated with the use of ethanol as an oxygenate in California's cleaner burning gasoline program.

I support Senator Fitzgerald's proposal to as expeditiously as possible phase out the use of MTBE in our nation's gasoline. His proposal also maintains the RFG oxygenate requirement. Implementation of this proposal will both remove a risk to our nation's drinking water supply and ensure the continued air quality benefits of the reformulated gasoline program envisioned in the Clean Air Act.