Water interests gird for round two of MTBE safe harbor fight

摘要

When the republican-led 108th congress finally ended its free-spending first session in december, water suppliers were celebrating their unexpectedly successful campaign to block passage of energy legislation that would have retroactively protected mtbe producers from liability for contamination cleanup costs while at the same time girding for a promised second round of battle against the "safe harbor" statute during 2004's election-year session. Although the fight to redefeat methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) safe harbor will again command the immediate attention and resources of safe water interests that vehemently object to making utility customers solely responsible for paying the estimated $29 billion bill to mitigate MTBE contamination, the water supply community will also keep pressing federal lawmakers to address urgent infrastructure and security funding needs.