Rep. Markey Joins Reps. Capps, Waxman Solis and Other Stakeholders To Call on Chairman Barton to Release Details . . .

Rep. Markey Joins Reps. Capps, Waxman Solis and Other Stakeholders To Call on Chairman Barton to
Release Details of Industry Bailout for MTBE in the Energy Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congresswoman Edward J. Markey, joined Congresswoman Capps,
Congressman Henry Waxman, Congressman Ed Markey, Congresswoman Hilda Solis and representatives
from local governments, water districts and environmental groups denounced reports of a MTBE industry
bailout and called on Chairman Barton to open up talks on MTBE provisions in the bill.

Although details of the MTBE bailout have been released, most members of the conference committee
and important stakeholders have not been included in the negotiations. Instead, Chairman Barton
reportedly has been working with only a few Republicans and industry representatives on a bailout that
would protect MTBE manufacturers from paying or cleanup of contaminated groundwater.

"What I am hearing about the pro-industry negotiations aren't good and won't address present and future
MTBE contamination," Capps, the leader on MTBE issues in the House, said. "Taxpayers would be
saddled with a vast majority of the bill to clean up their water supplies that MTBE manufacturers
knowingly polluted. The American people are looking for a comprehensive energy policy, not a bill
protecting polluters."

The House-passed Energy bill included the so-called "safe harbor" protections that would absolve MTBE
manufacturers from responsibility for the damage their product has caused. MTBE is responsible for
contaminating groundwater at more than 2,300 sites in dozens of states, and cleanup costs could be as
high as $85 billion. This special protection, included in the House bill but not the Senate bill, doomed
comprehensive energy legislation two years ago.

"It's telling that the oil industry has a seat at the table, yet our mayors, cities, and counties are excluded,"
said Rep. Waxman, ranking member of the Government Reform Committee and a longtime leader on the
MTBE issue. "The priority should be public health and the environment first, but instead the legislation is
a special interest bonanza."

"While the oil companies are being flooded with cash, our community water systems are being flooded
with MTBE. Unfortunately, just as Big Oil continues to add MTBE to their gasoline, the Republicans
continue to add protections for Big Oil from MTBE lawsuits to the energy bill. The only MTBE deal that
is acceptable to the American people is one where the oil companies face their responsibility and pay for
cleaning the drinking water that they polluted," said Rep. Markey, senior Democrat on the Energy and
Commerce Committee.

"As Members of Congress it is our job to ensure our communities have access to vital services, including
safe drinking water. Any deal on MTBE which will leave our taxpayers and water providers paying the
bill for cleanup is unacceptable and unjust to consumers. The only way to fairly and adequately pay for
the cleanup of MTBE is to hold manufacturers responsible for their harmful practices and actions," said
Rep. Hilda Solis, ranking Democrat on the House Environment and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee.
Local officials and water districts are on the front lines of dealing with and cleaning up MTBE
contamination in their water supplies. Diane VanDe Hei, executive director of the Association of
Metropolitan Water Agencies, is concerned about the potential cleanup costs that might be passed on to
local communities.

"If energy bill contains a liability waiver and fails to fully cover drinking water cleanup costs now and
into the future, then local communities will be forced to absorb costs that belong solely to the companies
that produced or distributed MTBE and knew early on of its environmental hazards," she said.

"The Conference of Mayors is strongly opposed to the inclusion of the MTBE liability waiver that is
energy bill, H. R. 6.," said Piscataway (NJ) Mayor Brian Wahler. "The cost of this exemption is an
estimated $25 to $85 billion cost shift to local taxpayers who will be asked to foot the bill for the clean up
and even replacement of local water supplies. This is certainly one of the largest unfunded mandates
passed down from Congress to local taxpayers in recent years."

"It is no secret that MTBE is polluting drinking water supplies across the country, but what is a secret is
the back room dealings of big oil companies," Christy Leavitt, clean water advocate for U.S. PIRG, said.
"Some of the biggest and most powerful companies in the world are using their power to stick the
American public with the MTBE bill."

http://www.house.gov/markey/Issues/iss_energy_pr050721.pdf