MTBE is an additive for fuels that makes it burn cleaner for clean
air.  The problem is that when it doesn't burn, such as when it is
discarded unburned by two stroke engines - lawnmowers, motorboats, jet
skis, snowmobiles, etc. - it gets into the ground and into the ground
water.  It is hazardous to human health and is a serious problem in
California.  It is not used in gasoline that has ethanol, so has not been
as serious an issue here, but it is being found in water here as well, just
in less concentration.

CAFO stands for concentrated animal feeding operations - think hoglot,
although chickens are also confined and raised in this way.

Peggy Murdock

At 08:20 PM 10/5/99 -0500, you wrote:
>Please define acronyms when sharing information with us.  I am eager to learn
>about your issues, but do not follow the entire scope of Sierra Club issues
>closely enough to be familiar with MG, MTBE,  CAFO, and all of the other
>acronyms I come across in these messages.
>
>Thanks!
>
>Alisa
>
>Peggy Murdock wrote:
>
> > In Lyle's report the representative for the Americn Petrolium Institute,
> > David Smitherman, is reported as stating "that the state's requirement that
> > gasoline cannot contain more than two percent MTBE may be challenged. He
> > stressed that environmental contamination in California due to MTBE does
> > not pose a significant risk in Iowa because of the requirements of the
> > state's underground storage tank law."
> >
> >   At the Water Quality Advisory Task Force meeting, it was mentioned that
> > MTBE is being found in Iowa water.  It is in the gasoline if you don't buy
> > ethanol.
> >
> > Jet Skis, motorboats, lawn mowers and snowmobiles all have two-stroke
> > motors which leave 25-30% of their fuel in the water or on the land where
> > they are used.
> >
> > Peggy Murdock
> >
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> > For SC email list T-and-C, send: GET TERMS-AND-CONDITIONS.CURRENT
> > to [log in to unmask]
>
>--
>Alisa Stone
>Waste Management Assistance Division
>Iowa Department of Natural Resources
>Phone: 515-281-8308
>Email: [log in to unmask]
>
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