THE KANSAS CITY STAR: Shell settles Orange County lawsuit over MTBE contamination: “The settlement calls for Shell to pay $14.5 million to conduct tests to determine the amount of methyl tertiary-butyl ether, or MTBE, in the ground at 173 stations, county District Attorney Anthony Rackauckas said Thursday.”: “Shell also is required to pay whatever it costs to clean up the ground at gas stations where the leaks occurred, authorities said.” (ShellNews.net) 7 Jan 05
Associated Press
Posted on Fri, Jan. 07, 2005
SANTA ANA, Calif. - The Shell Oil Co. has become the last of three gas and oil companies to settle a six-year-old lawsuit by Orange County over soil and groundwater contamination caused by underground storage tanks.
The settlement calls for Shell to pay $14.5 million to conduct tests to determine the amount of methyl tertiary-butyl ether, or MTBE, in the ground at 173 stations, county District Attorney Anthony Rackauckas said Thursday.
Another $4 million will fund consumer and environmental prosecutions, the county Health Care Agency and fire departments in Anaheim, Fullerton, Orange and Santa Ana.
Shell also is required to pay whatever it costs to clean up the ground at gas stations where the leaks occurred, authorities said.
Shell representative Cameron Smythe said the settlement is fair. "Shell continues to work proactively to (remedy) any contaminated locations," she said.
MTBE is a gasoline additive that studies have shown could cause cancer. It is banned in some states.
The chemical entered the groundwater in the county but not the deep aquifers from which drinking water comes, said Deputy District Attorney Leslie Young.
The county sued Shell, Atlantic Richfield Co. and Thrifty Oil Co. in 1999, alleging MTBE leaked from underground storage tanks at their gas stations.
BP paid $8 million in 2002 to settle the lawsuit over leaks from 122 ARCO stations, and $1.6 million in 2003 for leaks at 43 Thrifty Oil Co. stations.
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