Posted on 06/15/2005 9:36:34 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
That's my understanding also. At the very least, the gubmint approved it.
What they didn't tell you: originally gasoline, while obnoxious for a short period, was not a pollutant, as when released into the ground it was quickly reduced by natural processes to benign compounds.
Steel underground tanks would deteriorate by rusting and leak some gasoline into the ground, and those tanks would be detected and replaced. But this wasn't good enough for government money burners, everybody had to replace all the tanks immediately. No more worries, as the new tanks would be rustproof Fiberglas (plastic) construction, impervious to gasoline. The government idiots didn't bother to find out if the new tanks resisted ALCOHOL (MTBE and ethanol) which, of course, they didn't. And of course the pollutants in gasoline that DON'T break down in the environment are the late model additives and MTBE. So the new tanks began leaking real pollutants very quickly.
Bottom line the government mandated that we spend billions to go from no problem to huge problem. Enviroterrorists have been in government for a long time.
NAFTA. A ban of MTBE would be considered a barrier to trade and therefore be actionable by a WTO tribunal. Also, because our government is bent on merging Mexico, Canada and the USA into a single economic and political bloc, they don't want to mess with the MTBE producers in Canada. It might affect their ability to complete the merger.
FYI for now they are calling it the North American Community-- a mini-EU that will eventually expand to encompass the whole Western Hemisphere via CAFTA then the FTAA. There was a recent article posted about security and the North American Community--look it up if you're interested. Its an eye opener and very bad news for the future of the United States as a sovereign country.
Yep, I am not sure if we can ever fully recover from this massive waste of resources.
Not certain of this but - I believe that MTBE when burned with gasoline becomes airborne and when rain washes it to the ground it seeps in, resulting in groundwater pollution.
My understanding was that it was dispersed as a product of combustion and rained down as mentioned, but leaking underground storage tanks (called LUST in the hazmat/envirolaw industry) are possibly to blame as well.
Our elected officials swore an oath to abide by our constitution, which states that they're responsible to protect the populace from all threats, both foreign & domestic. This domestic threat to the health of the people is a life and death situation and this thumps all other agreements, especially foreign.
I'm certain that there must be language in the NAFTA plan which would nullify any agreement which would be destructive to the health & welfare of our nation. If not there certainly should be! I'm convinced that somewhere in that agreement there's an out that can be used to nullify an agreement, especially if there's a threat to the safety of our people.
thumps = trumps
Individual motorists at gas pumps spill an amazing amount of fuel just a few drops at a time, but MTBE does not break down. All those drips and splashes add up.
No one needs to have a leaky underground tank, and those went through inspections during the Clinton years, too, shutting down a lot of older gas stations where infrastructure upgrades were too expensive.
So let's beat up the BIG oil companies to pay for the actions of a government and the people it represents. /SARC
We will have $5.00 gasoline yet, imho.
In this context, I think I prefer "thumps".
It reminds me of Teddy's "big stick".
bill wattenberg of radio kgo san francisco used to scream himself silly over mtbe.
he said that the oil companies and the cal epa were in bed together, that employees moved back and forth, back and forth, for higher salaries.
he was on record for over a decade against mtbe, pointing out that it was a carcinogen.
I'm searching back in the mists of time, but I recall there was something about MTBE being a waste byproduct of the chemical industry and using it as a fuel oxygenator sort of killed two birds with one stone. Which reminds me of stories I heard about the east coast mafia who would (for a price) drive tankers of hazardous waste around the turnpikes with the spigot dripping until it's gone.
MTBE isn't a waste product. It has to be refined in a special process. The feed stream is a different "cut" from the cracking column, and one that really doesn't have as much commercial demand as others.
True, make the Californian citiizens pay for it. They are the ones that started it.
It was the EPA. Then the elected officials and unelected bureaucrats should be tried, fined and possibly jailed. The people of California are not culpable but the federal and state governments are.
A bureaucrat swinging from a gallows would send the right message in many many ways.
In China, they would use one bullet, and invoice the next of kin for the bullet.
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