Glen
07-27-2005, 02:49 PM
WASHINGTON -- Twenty-one senators asked the Environmental Protection Agency for more information yesterday about an internal paper that reportedly concludes that the gasoline additive MTBE may cause cancer.
Key elements of the document, which has not been made public, surfaced as legislators considered whether to shield the makers of MTBE from product liability lawsuits as a result of drinking-water contamination in at least 36 states.
MTBE, which was put into gasoline to cut air pollution, has been banned in several states because of complaints that it adds a foul smell and turpentine-like taste to drinking water when it leaks into water supplies.
But the draft EPA paper, described as a preliminary document that has not been peer-reviewed, raises broader health concerns about MTBE than widely assumed, according to opponents of the proposed liability shield.
"This is extremely troubling and certainly merits further investigation and review," said the senators in a letter sent yesterday to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson.
The draft document calls MTBE a likely carcinogen, according to a trade publication, Inside EPA.
EPA officials do not dispute that characterization.
But EPA spokesman Eryn Witcher said the draft paper reflects "incomplete information" developed early in the MTBE review process and has yet to undergo internal or external peer reviews.
"This draft should not be construed to represent any agency determination or policy," said Witcher. She said the paper is part of a broader assessment of MTBE's risks that won't be completed for another year or more.
The senators said they want to know more about "what findings EPA is anticipating to make," since decisions are being made now in Congress on phasing out MTBE and whether to give liability immunity to its manufacturers.
Key elements of the document, which has not been made public, surfaced as legislators considered whether to shield the makers of MTBE from product liability lawsuits as a result of drinking-water contamination in at least 36 states.
MTBE, which was put into gasoline to cut air pollution, has been banned in several states because of complaints that it adds a foul smell and turpentine-like taste to drinking water when it leaks into water supplies.
But the draft EPA paper, described as a preliminary document that has not been peer-reviewed, raises broader health concerns about MTBE than widely assumed, according to opponents of the proposed liability shield.
"This is extremely troubling and certainly merits further investigation and review," said the senators in a letter sent yesterday to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson.
The draft document calls MTBE a likely carcinogen, according to a trade publication, Inside EPA.
EPA officials do not dispute that characterization.
But EPA spokesman Eryn Witcher said the draft paper reflects "incomplete information" developed early in the MTBE review process and has yet to undergo internal or external peer reviews.
"This draft should not be construed to represent any agency determination or policy," said Witcher. She said the paper is part of a broader assessment of MTBE's risks that won't be completed for another year or more.
The senators said they want to know more about "what findings EPA is anticipating to make," since decisions are being made now in Congress on phasing out MTBE and whether to give liability immunity to its manufacturers.