'A Basin Protection Stategy for Sites with MTBE Impacts'

摘要

The national presence of MTBE at petroleum sites carries the potential to adversely impact groundwater basins and, hence, the municipal and domestic drinking water supply sources producing from them. Municipal water suppliers are required to prepare source water protection plans for thier groundwater basins. Unfortunately, these plans may not be specific enough to determine which petroleum sites may pose the greatest risks in the near term. Furthermore, sites with the greatest risk do not often receive proportional attention because the criteria for determining which sites to work on is inconsistent and unclear to all stakeholders. The regulatory debate often focuses on corrective action plans and cleanup criteria for sites that pose no immediate threat to drinking water wells or surface water bodies. Even though no other driver exists (business, political, etc), the parties responsible for these sites are not allowed to "pause" in order to redirect their efforts to sites posing a more immediate risk. Because resources are limited both from a regulatory and from a business perspective, all sites cannot be investigated and remediated at the same time. Therefore, it is prudent to apply human an dfinancial resources to those posing the greatest threat.