Environmental Science & Engineering - www.esemag.com - May 2005
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Is the US government ignoring leaking UST threat?
Leaking underground storage
tanks (USTs) are a growing
threat to public health, according
to a report recently released
by the Sierra Club. The report states
that the US federal government’s
refusal to accept its responsibility to
fund the cleanups is making the problem
worse and is undermining the
principle of “polluter pays”.
As an example of this, the Sierra
Club noted the US House of
Representatives vote on the Energy
Policy Act of 2005, which would prevent
communities from recovering
cleanup costs from the manufacturers
of the gasoline additive methyl tertiary
butyl ether (MTBE). MTBE has contaminated
local water supplies in more
than 1,800 communities in 29 states,
according to the Sierra Club report.
“More than 100 million people
drink groundwater in states where
thousands of underground storage
tanks are leaking and need cleanups,”
said Grant Cope, Toxics Expert with
the Sierra Club. “These sites include
toxics like benzene, toluene and heavy
metals that can quickly pollute groundwater,
threaten public health, burden
taxpayers with cleanup costs and hurt
real estate values.”
The report shows that fifty percent
of the US gets its drinking water from
groundwater sources. The US has a
backlog of 130,000 needed cleanups at
leaking USTs, and discovers 9,000
new leaks each year. A pin-prick sized
hole in one fuel tank can leak 400 gallons
of contamination a day, and one
gallon of gasoline can pollute one million
gallons of groundwater.
“The US government’s budget
request will not begin to cover even a
small fraction of the sites,” said Cope.
“We have proven technologies to prevent
contamination and surplus money
to clean up sites, but the current
administration is failing to safeguard
vulnerable communities.”
The federal government has $2.4
billion in surplus cleanup funds, but is
proposing to use only three percent of
this surplus. US taxpayers pay a 1/10th
of one cent federal fee on gasoline sales
that goes into a federal fund dedicated
to paying for cleanups at UST sites.
State UST programs, which are
largely taxpayer funded, are billions
of dollars in deficit. Many states with
the biggest deficits also have the
biggest backlog in cleanups. Florida
leads the nation in needed cleanups
with 17,544. California has the second
highest number with 15,049, and
a deficit of more than $1 billion.
Michigan has the third highest number
with 9,039, and an internally
reported deficit of $1.7 billion.
Tennessee, with 1,221 needed cleanups,
has internally reported a $95
million deficit.
For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org/toxics/Leaking_USTs.
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