ACWA Urges Governor Davis to Stand Firm on MTBE Ban.News Editors SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 11, 2002 The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA ACWA Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America ACWA Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives ACWA Administrative Careers With America ACWA Assembled Chemical Weapons Assessment ACWA American Civil War Association ACWA American Clean Water Association ) has called on Governor Davis to protect the state's water resources by standing firm on plans to phase out the use of MTBE MTBE Methyl-tert-butyl-ether Surgery An aliphatic ether that rapidly dissolves cholesterol stones in vivo, introduced under local anesthesia via a percutaneous transhepatic cholecystectomy catheter, as a non-invasive method for treating gallstones; after injection, in gasoline by the end of this year. In a March 8 letter signed by ACWA Executive Director Stephen Hall, the association urged Davis to resist pressure to delay the ban on MTBE, a gasoline additive Gasoline additives increase gasoline's octane rating or act as corrosion inhibitors or lubricators, thus allowing the use of higher compression ratios for greater efficiency and power, however some carry heavy environmental risks. that has been detected in groundwater and surface water sources throughout California. Davis issued an executive order in 1999 calling for a ban on MTBE by December 31, 2002. "Delaying the ban on MTBE by even one more day is another opportunity for MTBE to find its way into another community's water supplies," ACWA said in the letter. "We believe that given the choice between continued MTBE use or protection of our water supplies, the public would put our water supply sources first -- even if it means paying a little more at the pump for a short time." ACWA noted that MTBE contamination has forced the closure of drinking water drinking water supply of water available to animals for drinking supplied via nipples, in troughs, dams, ponds and larger natural water sources; an insufficient supply leads to dehydration; it can be the source of infection, e.g. leptospirosis, salmonellosis, or of poisoning, e.g. wells in South Lake Tahoe, Santa Monica Santa Monica (săn`tə mŏn`ĭkə), city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. , San Jose, Cambria, Kern County and other locations. It has resulted in millions of dollars in water treatment, cleanup and replacement water costs, and has diminished the public's confidence in the safety of water supplies. Although one consultant's report suggests gasoline prices will rise if MTBE is banned at the end of this year, ACWA cautioned that any increases in gas prices would pale in comparison to the cost of ongoing cleanup and replacement of contaminated contaminated, v 1. made radioactive by the addition of small quantities of radioactive material. 2. made contaminated by adding infective or radiographic materials. 3. an infective surface or object. water supplies. The letter expressed support for the governor's efforts to obtain a waiver for California from the Clean Air Act's oxygenate oxygenate /ox·y·gen·ate/ (-je-nat) to saturate with oxygen. ox·y·gen·ate or ox·y·gen·ize v. To treat, combine, or infuse with oxygen. requirement. However, it pointed to recent MTBE contamination in Ventura County as evidence of the need to remove MTBE from gasoline as soon as possible. "It is patently obvious that MTBE is a threat to our state's water resources. It is an expensive problem that will only grow more expensive in the future, and it is costing us precious water supplies that California simply cannot afford to lose," the ACWA letter said. ACWA is a statewide association whose 440 members are responsible for about 90% of the water delivered in California. For more information, visit www.acwanet.com. |
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