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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Researcher Calls for ban on MTBE while Corporation Sues for Right to Sell |
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by Molly Stentz & Danielle Chynoweth
Email: imc-newsroom (nospam) urbana.indymedia.org (unverified!)
Phone: 217.344.8820 (imc) |
31 Aug 2001
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A researcher is calling for a ban on M-T-B-E, a carcinogenic gasoline additive, but trade agreements may stand in the way of such a ban. |
A researcher is calling for a ban on MTBE, a carcinogenic gasoline additive, but trade agreements may stand in the way of such a ban.
Purdue University chemistry professor Reynaldo Barreto found MTBE in 70% of samples collected from gas stations in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. MTBE poses a widespread threat, Barreto says, because it is showing up in areas where it is not expected or monitored.
Gasoline additives such as MTBE were widely introduced in some cities after the Clean Air Act of 1990 required cleaner burning gasoline in cities with significant pollution problems. Since then, MTBE, which is difficult to store and does not biodegrade, has become a leading ground water pollutant.
After California chose to phase out MTBE because of research documenting public health risks, Methenex, a Canadian corporation which produces MTBE, brought a 970 million dollar law suit against the US government.
Methenex claims that California's ban on MTBE undermines its future profitability which is protected under the North American Free Trade Agreement's "investor rights" provisions.
This Molly Stentz and Danielle Chynoweth from the Urbana Indepedent Media Center for Free Speech Radio News |
