City council postpones MTBE ban another six months

Wednesday, Oct. 7, 1998 | 12:20 p.m.

The council decided Tuesday night against imposing an immediate ban on MTBE. Instead, it voted unanimously to give state and federal regulators until next spring to take steps to eliminate it.

The chemical is added to help make gasoline burn cleaner but studies show it is polluting water in and around Lake Tahoe. Eleven of the area's 34 wells already have been shut down.

If state and federal officials don't take action to protect South Lake Tahoe's water supply by April 1999, then the city will.

The resolution approved unanimously by the council said it will "consider a ban of the use of MTBE within the city of South Lake Tahoe to protect water sources which are vulnerable to contamination by MTBE if other governing agencies do not take action by April 1, 1999."

South Lake Tahoe is the first California city to consider creating an MTBE-free zone.

"There's a good chance that what we do in April is going to be followed and copied by a lot of other cities in the state, because this is just the tip of the iceberg," said Judy Brown, mayor pro tem.

Council member Tom Davis said, based on the current situation in South Lake Tahoe, he was unsure if the April deadline was soon enough. He suggested they make the deadline in 60 days.

But other council members indicated more time would be needed to ensure that a ban of the controversial gasoline additive would be feasible.

Dawn Forsythe, information officer for the South Tahoe Public Utility District, said the resolution adequately addressed the problem.

Al Moss, owner of two South Shore Chevron stations, told the council members he felt the oil companies would find a way to supply South Lake Tahoe stations without MTBE if it is banned.

"I truly believe they will not leave us high and dry," he said. He said he felt MTBE was a problem and that Chevron was concerned about the South Shore situation.

"From my perspective, the only solution to the problem is to remove the problem," he said. "MTBE needs to go away."

Mike Wang, a representative of the Western States Petroleum Association, advised against banning MTBE. He said "no practical alternatives" currently exist.

He said the petroleum association wants to try to find ways to keep gasoline from leaking and spilling. The association's second objective, he said, is to find alternatives to the oxygenate.

MTBE - methyl tertiary butyl ether - is an oxygenate used in fuels to reduce vehicle emissions. It makes up about 11 percent of all California gasoline. It is classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a possible cancer-causing agent.

MTBE can be detected in water at low levels of contamination and smells and tastes like turpentine.