PROVIDENCE — A trio of fossil fuel companies are set to pay the state $15 million to settle a federal lawsuit brought by Attorney General Peter Neronha over allegations that they polluted groundwater supplies in Rhode Island with a gasoline additive that has been linked to cancer.
Methyl tertiary-butyl ether was mixed with gasoline to boost engine performance, but the chemical was known to leak from underground fuel storage tanks at gas stations and contaminate water aquifers and soils. The most notable instance in Rhode Island occurred in Burrillville in 2001, which resulted in the closure of the only well that supplied the village of Pascoag. The chemical was banned by the state in 2007, but cases of contamination still arise because MTBE persists in the environment.
Under the settlement with Neronha’s office announced on Monday, Shell, Sunoco and CITGO agreed to pay $15 million that will be used for MTBE remediation and emergency response efforts conducted by the state Department of Environmental Management.
Read more, at: https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/2022/04/11/ri-settlement-water-contamination-lawsuit-mtbe-oil-companies/7276877001/
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