PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Governor Donald L. Carcieri has signed legislation that prohibits gasoline additive methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) from being added to gasoline sold in Rhode Island. The new law will help to protect groundwater supplies from gasoline that spills or leaks from underground storage tanks.
The elimination of MTBE from gasoline will take effect on June 1, 2007.
MTBE is suspected to have contaminated the drinking water for about 4,000 residents of Pascoag, R.I., in 2001. MTBE has also affected private wells in [image-nocss] Glocester, North Smithfield, Richmond, South Kingstown and Tiverton.
We have seen how MTBE-added gasoline can affect the drinking water in communities around the state. With this law, we are ensuring that our groundwater supply remains safe from MTBE contamination, Carcieri said. No Rhode Islander should have to worry if the water coming from their tap is safe.
Carcieri introduced the MTBE Elimination Act in February, similar to the legislation that he signed into law.
Rhode Island is the 22nd state to ban MTBE from gasoline. New York and Connecticut have successfully implemented MTBE bans in their states. Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont have enacted similar MTBE bans that will take effect in 2007.
MTBE was added to gasoline by refiners in the 1990s to meet the requirements of the 1990 Clean Air Act, which mandated reformulated gasoline contains at least 2% oxygen by weight, thus reducing harmful tailpipe emissions. But the decrease in evaporative emissions is outweighed by MTBE's potential to harm the groundwater supply. In states that have enacted MTBE bans, ethanol, a renewable fuel made from corn or other biomass, has been used as an alternative additive.
MTBE contamination became an issue in 2001 when Pascoag residents noticed a funny odor and taste to their drinking water. Tests confirmed high levels of MTBE and other gasoline components that were traced to a leak from a gas station. The Pascoag Water District and the Department of Environmental Management shut down the village well field and provided drinking water to about 4,000 village residents.
A grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allowed DEM to remove the source of contamination and set up treatment systems that lowered the contamination at the site and stopped the flow of the contaminated groundwater.
To improve Rhode Island's air, Governor Carcieri also adopted the California Low Emission Vehicle standards for new automobiles and light trucks sold in Rhode Island.
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