Whats the Answer to the MTBE Problem?
So far, nobody has the answer. Politicians, regulators, environmentalists, gasoline producers, and others all have their own opinions. Clearly, using MTBE in gasoline to help mitigate one environmental concern, i.e., reducing air emissions from vehicles, has led to possibly a much larger environmental tragedy–the contamination of our drinking water. This issue will not be settled easily or quickly, nor will it be settled at a local level. In the mean time, the best we can hope to do is work on controlling the release of gasoline from leaks, spills, and emissions. State and Federal Underground Storage Tank Laws and Regulations Under general guidance from the State Water Resources Control Board, the El Dorado County Environmental Management Department is mandated to enforce the California Underground Storage Tank Law and Regulations which require all fuel stations to perform on-going underground tank and piping testing. More importantly, by December 22, 1998 (the state and federal deadl
