• Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE) is used as a fuel additive in reformulated gasoline to lower vehicle emissions.

  • Eighteen states now have areas required to use reformulated gasoline containing MTBE to lower smog levels.

  • More than 1 billion gallons of MTBE are used annually in gasoline produced in the United States.

  • MTBE is considered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a potential cause of cancer in humans.

  • MTBE has been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals at the same dosage rates as benzene, a proven human carcinogen.

  • EPA has issued a drinking water advisory of 20 to 40 parts per billion for MTBE in drinking water.

  • MTBE makes water taste and smell like turpentine at low-level concentrations.

  • MTBE is capable of contaminating water 50 times faster than other components of gasoline.

  • Leaking fuel tanks, accidental fuel spills, and motorized recreational watercraft are some of the ways MTBE gains access to drinking water sources.

  • The American Chemical Society has stated as many as one third of U.S. community water supplies may be contaminated with MTBE.

  • One tenth of a gallon of MTBE is enough to contaminate 13 million gallons of drinking water.

  • Traditional methods for removal of hydrocarbons from water sources will not work to remove MTBE.

  • Cleaning MTBE-contaminated water supplies in the US could cost billions of dollars.

  • MTBE contamination has already forced closure of drinking water supplies in states including New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Maine, Rhode Island, and California.