MTBE found in Lake Casitas
by Lenny Roberts

According to a memo from Casitas Municipal Water District General Manager John L. Johnson dated March 21, the board has known for some time that MTBE, or methyl tertiary-butyl ether, is present in the lake, and has determined that the source of the problem is the gasoline being used by motorboats.
Johnson recommends that the use of gasoline containing MTBE cease by Nov. 1, and that a public relations program informing the customers of the lake about the requirement and the need for that requirement begin as soon as possible. The requirement, Johnson added, should apply to the concessionaire and to all boats being brought into the lake.
California Gov. Gray Davis had set Jan. 1, 2003 as the date when MTBE would be taken out of the gasoline in California and replaced with ethanol, but the ruling has been postponed to prevent retail gasoline prices from soaring.
"If I could snap my fingers and make MTBE go away tomorrow, I would. But we've seen this movie before and I am not going to allow Californians to be held hostage by another out-of-state energy cartel," Gov. Davis said March 15.
"After two years of delay, California's request for a waiver from the strict oxygenate requirement was denied by the federal government. Senator Daschle, who I spoke to last night, has a bill to fix the problem and it's heading in the right direction. But there's a chance that it might not become law and so it is my duty to take action to protect Californians from paying $3 per gallon at the pump. And that's exactly what I'm doing."
Under the newly announced timeline, the MTBE phaseout will be accomplished no later than Dec. 31, 2003, according to the California Energy Commission, and individual refineries may continue to make the transition to ethanol earlier than December 2003 if they determine it is feasible and will not risk supply shortages or price spikes.
"The data from the district's water quality testing is indicating that MTBE is being found not only in the raw water taken into the water treatment plant, but also in the outflow from the treatment plant that is being served to Casitas customers," Johnson said.
The level of MTBE is as high as 1.6 parts per billion for treatment plant influent, or incoming flow of water, and 0.6 parts per billion in the effluent, or outgoing flow, where the secondary limit is 5 parts per billion.
"Based upon this information," johnson said, "it would appear that Casitas needs to take action to deal with this problem before we start having to worry about exceeding the secondary regulation."
The good news is that non-MBTE gasoline already exists and is available in 8,000-gallon lots. The bad news is that storage facilities for gasoline is currently limited to 1,500 gallons, and costs 15 percent more per gallon. Of concern is usage at the lake typically runs around 700 gallons per month, and gasoline can go bad if stored too long.
Another suggestion is to eliminate two-cycle gasoline engines that are below 10 horsepower as they put the most MTBE into the water. Larger engines would be included if results still showed a significant amount of MTBE in the lake.
"Casitas needs to develop an ordinance change which will allow the district to control the type gasoline being used at the lake, or the type of motors being used on the lake," Johnson said.
CMWD President Jim Coultas said, "We want to stay on top of this before it becomes a real problem. If Governor Davis had not backed off and California had banned MTBE by Jan 1, 2003, we would not have had a problem."
Coultas said the worst case scenario would be to allow only newer, four-cycle engines on the lake and to ban the many two-cycle engines, including those that power many of the rental and privately owned older boats.

© 2002 The Ojai Valley News

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