For Santa Monica, the MTBE Battle is About Who Will Pay for Clean-up: Polluters or Taxpayers?

Craig Perkins, Director of Environmental and Public Works Management for the City of Santa Monica, made the following statement on behalf of the City of Santa Monica, in response to Governor Gray Davis' announcement that he will delay the ban on MTBE in gasoline by one year.

"The critical question for Santa Monica is how long must we wait to get the oil companies and MTBE manufacturers to pay for the clean-up of the pollution they caused. We have been battling this issue with the oil companies for six years, and they are still trying to evade responsibility.

"Governor Davis was between a rock and a hard place on the MTBE phase-out date because the federal government refused to waive the oxygenate requirement.

"Now, the oil companies are working behind the scenes in Washington, D.C., to limit their liability for MTBE contamination, and shifting the burden to taxpayers and water users. The fight must go on to restore the aquifers destroyed by MTBE in Santa Monica and around the nation."

Source: Businesswire