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WASHINGTON - July 22 - "Earlier today, Rep. Barton (R-TX) and Rep. Bass (R-NH) announced a 'deal' regarding the cleanup of the toxic gasoline additive, methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE). Don't be fooled. The only winners are the oil companies.
The losers are the taxpayers and communities who will have to foot the bill and continue to drink contaminated water. Letting the oil industry off the hook for damage to more that 1800 drinking water systems contaminated with MTBE is not a real solution. "Oil companies have known for years that MTBE was a threat to drinking water, yet they continued to use the product without alerting the government or communities about the dangers. An internal memo at Shell oil company said that people inside the company were joking that MTBE really stood for 'Most Things Biodegrade Easier.' "This 'deal' does almost nothing to help local communities pay for the estimated $30 billion in clean up costs around the country. It is irresponsible for Congress to place the cleanup burden on communities and taxpayers who were blameless, while letting the oil companies off with a slap on the wrist for knowingly poisoning American's drinking water. "Congress should stand up and reject this blatant special interest giveaway. The Senate rejected an energy bill that contained the MTBE liability waiver in the last Congress and they should reject any energy bill that contains this deal or other provisions that let polluters off the hook." ###
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