NEW YORK – BP, Chevron, CITGO, ConocoPhillips, Marathon, Shell, Sunoco and Valero are among about a dozen oil companies that will pay $423 million to settle lawsuits brought by water suppliers in 17 states over contamination from the gasoline additive methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), reported Bloomberg News. The suits claim the companies contaminated wells and underground aquifers across the country by adding MTBE to gasoline as a way to reduce air pollution. They claim the companies hid information showing MTBE would cause "massive" contamination.
The settlement was filed Wednesday [image-nocss] with U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin in New York, who is presiding over the 153 settled lawsuits brought by municipalities. The six oil companies and refineries that didn't settle include Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's biggest publicly traded oil company, according to Robert Gordon, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.
The municipalities "will use the money to continue to treat water so that it is safe and pure," Gordon told Bloomberg.
MTBE reduces air pollution by making gasoline burn more completely in a car's engine. MTBE discharged into the air contaminates groundwater through rainfall. The additive has been banned in many states.
Estimates of the cost to treat contaminated water in the U.S. have reached $30 billion. Gordon said municipalities have covered a portion of the cost. As part of the settlement, the companies will fund a 30-year water treatment program for sites with excessive contamination, he said. "We think it's an excellent settlement," Gordon said. "It provides not only cash, but peace of mind going into the future."
The settlement "was the result of arm's-length negotiations that took into account a variety of objective factors," according to the 26-page agreement.
The settled cases were brought by 153 water providers in 17 states, including New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Florida, California and New Mexico. The settlement also includes 200 lawsuits brought by individuals in Wisconsin.
"Valero has entered into a settlement agreement which resolves many of the lawsuits filed against Valero relating to the company's prior use of MTBE in gasoline," company spokesperson Bill Day told Bloomberg. "The settlement agreement is being reviewed by the court and is not yet final."
ConocoPhillips spokesperson Bill Tanner said, "A settlement is in the works; however, there are still other issues that are outstanding, that are still subject to litigation." He declined to comment further to the news agency. Don Campbell, a spokesperson for Chevron, declined to comment. BP spokesperson Valerie Corr and Sunoco spokesperson Thomas Golembeski didn't immediately return requests for comment. An ExxonMobil representative didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.
James Pardo and Peter Sacripanti, lawyers for the oil companies, didn't immediately return calls to Bloomberg either; 40 of the lawsuits named Marathon as a defendant, said company spokesperson Linda Casey. "We consider our portion of the settlement to be minor," she told the news agency. "It's not material to the company."
A few cases remain pending against the settling companies, though most are now resolved, Gordon said. In addition, cases are pending against nonsettling defendants, including Lyondell Chemical Co. New York City is also pursuing a case that has not settled against the oil companies.
Scheindlin denied a request by the oil companies to dismiss the suits in 2005. "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," Scheindlin said at the time, according to Bloomberg.Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.