By Debra DeHaney-Howard
July 25, 2005

In a July 21 press conference on Capitol Hill, Piscataway (NJ) Mayor Brian C. Wahler urged Congress to strip the methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) liability exemption from the House-passed energy bill, H. R. 6. This legislation is currently being reconciled with the Senate energy bill, which passed June 28 without the MTBE liability waiver.

“The Conference of Mayors is strongly opposed to the inclusion of the MTBE liability waiver that is in the House-passed energy bill,” said Wahler. “The cost of this exemption is a $25 to $85 billion shift to local taxpayers who will be forced to foot the bill for the clean up and even replacement of local water supplies. This is certainly one of the largest, if not the largest, unfunded mandates passed down from Congress to local taxpayers in recent years.”

At the press conference, Wahler appeared with House of Representative Members Lois Capps (CA), Henry Waxman (CA), Ed Markey (MA), Hilda Solis (CA), Diane VanDe Hei, Executive Director of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, and Al Warburton, Legislative Affairs Director of the American Water Works Association. The purpose was to denounce reports that some members of Congress are working on a “deal” to address MTBE contamination.

In commenting on the rumored “deal,” Whaler said, “Not one member of the Conference of Mayors, the National League of Cities or other partner organizations have been consulted or invited to participate in these discussions. We are the owners and operators of these water systems; and we contend that any agreement on MTBE must include:

• full cost recovery to community water systems; cover the cost of cleaning drinking water, not just removing leaking tanks;

• no unfunded mandate on local governments;

• no bailout for MTBE producers;

• any cleanup funds should not be subjected to annual appropriations.”

Congress is working on a final agreement on the energy bill that they can send to the President before adjourning this week for the August recess. In its current form and despite the Senate’s opposition to MTBE protections, the House will likely pass a bill that includes the provision to exempt manufacturers of MTBE.

Under the measure, city, county and other local agencies would be prevented from bringing “defective product” lawsuits to recover clean up costs. Many cities are already engaged in active litigation on this legal principal.

While MTBE has been known to help improve air quality, it has also been known to contaminate large quantities of surface and ground water through leaking underground storage tanks and pipelines to ground and surface water. This contamination causes drinking water to be foul-tasting and renders it undrinkable.

“It’s the cities’ responsibility to protect the health and well-being of our citizens, as well as protect our water systems. The nations’ mayors strongly urge Congress to remove this unjustified MTBE provision from the energy bill,” said Wahler.