New York's Senator
CHARLES E. SCHUMER

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 10, 2000

SCHUMER ENDORSES LOCAL PLAN TO BAN USE OF MTBEs ON LONG ISLAND

Comprehensive Federal Approach to Banning MTBEs is Also Needed, Senator Says

Suffolk County Legislator Vivian Fisher held a press conference today to propose legislation to ban the additive MTBE in Suffolk County. US Senator Charles E. Schumer made the following statement at the press conference:

"I'm here with County Legislator Vivian Fisher to talk about an issue vital to the water quality on Long Island. The gasoline additive MTBE is poisoning our water supply. This is a classic case where the cure is worse than the disease. Regarding the environment our guiding rule should be: first, do no harm.

"In New York State alone there are 1,715 MTBE spills. 198 spills in Nassau county, 183 in Suffolk and 45 in Queens. And because Long Island has the largest sole-source aquifer, once it is polluted with MTBE, there are no other alternatives for local drinking water.

"We must end this poisoning immediately. We must find a way to keep our air clean without contaminating our water. We must tackle this problem in two ways. In the short term, we must ban the use of MTBE in order to get it out of our drinking water. The New York State Assembly has already voted 144-0 last month on Tom DiNapoli's bill to ban MTBE, County Legislator Vivian Fisher has proposed a ban on MTBE in Suffolk County. And Congressman Forbes has proposed a nationwide ban of MTBE.

"But, on a larger scale, I believe that we must not only ban the use of MTBE, but take it one step further by repealing the 1990 federal law which requires the use of an oxygenate, such as MTBE or ethanol, in gasoline. The EPA Blue Ribbon Panel on MTBE, as well as the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management, have backed this plan.

"The oxygenate repeal is a very important component because, by simply banning MTBE, ethanol will remain as the only oxygenate available on the market. We must not allow this to happen because ethanol is more expensive, harder to come by and would have monopoly power. This is why it is important to repeal the oxygenate requirement too -- even though it has improved our air quality enormously.

"We can not continue to sacrifice our water quality unnecessarily -- the EPA and other energy organizations have already researched new mechanisms to improve air quality without using oxygenates. Therefore, any federal legislation to repeal the oxygenate requirement must allow for further research and development of mechanisms to maintain current air quality standards and prevent us from back-sliding from our clean air progress.

"Furthermore, we can not stop at banning MTBE and the oxygenate requirement. There are still thousands of leaking tanks on Long Island that will continue to be a problem if not addressed. This is why I support Congressman Forbes effort to call on the federal government to provide funds from the Leaking Underground Storage Tanks program to clean up and repair the storage tanks as well as require operators of leaky tanks to monitor for MTBE for the next ten years.

"The people of Long Island have suffered long enough with MTBE pollution. When families are justifiably afraid to drink the water, the government needs to act fast."

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