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MTBE Phaseout & Cleanup
MTBE, or methyl tertiary butyl ether, has been used as a blending component in gasoline since 1979 and ChevronTexaco first used MTBE in the late 1980s to increase octane. MTBE came into widespread use in the United States after 1990, when the Clean Air Act was amended to require much of the nation's gasoline to contain oxygen, which was thought to reduce air emissions. This oxygen requirement is met by including an "oxygenate," usually either MTBE or ethanol, an alcohol derived from corn or other agricultural crops.
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| ChevronTexaco is eliminating our use of MTBE in gasoline in California. We have replaced MTBE with ethanol in our gasoline in Southern California, and will complete the conversion to ethanol in Northern California in advance of the state's December 2003 deadline. |
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But in attempting to solve an air quality problem, the widespread use of MTBE has created a different problem. MTBE is significantly more soluble in water and persistent in the environment than other gasoline components. As a result, leaks and spills of gasoline that contains MTBE can be difficult to clean up, particularly when they reach groundwater. Some drinking-water supplies that have been contaminated by MTBE have been shut down pending remediation.
Consumers and government agencies in many parts of the United States now oppose the use of MTBE in gasoline. Many state governments have enacted or are considering mandatory phaseouts. These actions are based not on health concerns but on the fact that, in even very small amounts, MTBE can make water taste and smell unpleasant. ChevronTexaco is responding to MTBE concerns in several ways:
- We are assessing and cleaning up as appropriate our current and former service stations sites that have been impacted by leaks or spills of gasoline containing MTBE.
- We no longer produce MTBE in North America. We have closed the MTBE production facilities at our refineries in Richmond, California; El Segundo, California; and Pascagoula, Mississippi. Our joint venture with a company that once produced MTBE in Canada has switched its production to isooctane, a clean-burning gasoline blending component that does not have the same water quality concerns.
- We are eliminating our use of MTBE in California. Where the law requires us to use an oxygenate, we are converting from MTBE to ethanol. We have replaced MTBE with ethanol in our gasoline in Southern California, and will complete the conversion to ethanol in Northern California in advance of the state's December 2003 deadline.
- We have worked hard to improve groundwater cleanup processes and technology. ChevronTexaco Energy Technology Company has joined with a number of government and private organizations to manage research on how to better clean up groundwater impacted by oxygenates. Our technical experts also have taught courses for the California State Water Resources Board and EPA on this subject.
Additionally, ChevronTexaco is pursuing government action to require the phaseout of MTBE in gasoline in the United States. We also continue to pursue alternatives to government oxygenate mandates since we have shown that it is possible to make gasolines that achieve the air quality benefits without adding any oxygenate.
The experience with MTBE illustrates the importance of looking at all aspects of a product's potential impacts. It has provided our company, the petroleum industry and government agencies with useful lessons, which ChevronTexaco already has begun integrating into its approach to other product stewardship issues.
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