Water regulators sue 18 companies

Jenny Marder

Orange County Water regulators have filed a lawsuit against 18

companies they say are responsible for a gasoline additive that has

been found in a groundwater well and they fear could contaminate the

county’s drinking water supply.

Methyl tertiary-butyl ether has been detected in low levels in the

Orange County Water District’s shallow aquifers. District officials

suspect the carcinogen may have leaked into the groundwater supply

from storage tanks in gas stations. They fear the chemical may spread

from the one well to the others, contaminating the county’s water

supply.

The chance that Huntington Beach residents will unknowingly drink

water contaminated by the gasoline additive is slim because just a

small amount can make the water taste and smell like turpentine, said

Ron Wildermuth, communications director at the water district.

The risk of it seeping into the drinking water supply, however, is

very real, he said.

“The situation is this: The water district and water users did not

put MTBE in our shallow aquifer zone, the oil companies did, and we

feel that they’re responsible,” Wildermuth said.

The chemical was originally used in gasoline in the 1980s as a

substitute for lead, and later as an oxygenate to help the gasoline

burn cleaner and thus improve air quality. It moves quickly through

groundwater and doesn’t biodegrade. Just a drop can make the water

taste and smell foul.

“It’s one of the worst contaminants you can have,” Wildermuth

said. “As long as contamination is there and not being removed,

that’s a horrible risk.”

Defendants in the suit include the manufacturers, designers,

distributors, suppliers and retailers of MTBE and another contaminant

called tertiary-butyl alcohol, which the district alleges is

polluting the basin. The water district is demanding that the

companies cover all costs of investigation, monitoring and cleanup.

“We have not seen a copy of the lawsuit, so it would be premature

for us to comment on the allegations contained in the lawsuit,” said

Santana Gonzalez, a spokesman for Chevron Texaco, one of the

defendants named in the complaint, filed on May 6. “But as a company,

we work closely with the regional water quality boards to assure that

our retail facilities do not pose a risk to drinking water sources

throughout the region.”

Other defendants are Unocal Corp., ConocoPhillips, Chevron USA

Inc, Shell Oil Company, Exxon Mobil Corp. and 7-Eleven Inc.

It could take many years and millions of dollars to clean up the

contaminant, Wildermuth said.

“The goal is to make sure that neither the district nor the

drinking public ends up paying for cost of providing safe and clean

drinking water,” said Victor Sher, the attorney representing the

Orange County Water District.

Sher also represents the City of Santa Monica in a similar lawsuit

and was a member of a trial team in a South Tahoe case that involved

12 contaminated wells.

“Among other things, the defendants knowingly and willfully

promoted and marketed gasoline containing MTBE and [tertiary-butyl

alcohol], when they knew, or reasonably should have known, that these

compounds would reach groundwater, pollute public water supplies,

render drinking water unusable and unsafe and threaten public health

and welfare,” the district claims in its suit.

The health risk of the additive in drinking water is minimal

because the taste is so potent it is easily detected, Wildermuth

said.

At three to five parts per billion, an amount comparable to a

pinch of salt in 10 tons of potato chips, the taste and smell is too

strong to drink, he said. At 13 parts per billion, it becomes a

health risk.

“What we’re concerned about is it getting from the shallow

aquifers into deeper aquifers and destroying water for use as

drinking water,” he said. “Once it’s in the groundwater, there’s not

much that can be done.”

The Orange County Water District provides drinking water to 2.3

million residents in 21 cities in north and central Orange County,

including Huntington Beach.

“It’s a very strong case, and we hope that the companies will do

the responsible thing and resolve it early,” Sher said. “If not,

we’re prepared to try the case to a jury.”