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Originally Posted by mexiken
No its still legal and still used here in California. I just saw a label on a gas station here that stated that there was MTBE in the gas, and that it could POSSIBLY cause cancer. The statement our senator, Barbara Boxer, made maybe about two or three weeks ago was actually pushing for ethanol to replace MTBE. She was even calling for some legislation to mandate it, since in a month or two NO ONE is going to want to use MTBE, because of that study that I presume. I'm not clear on that. Point is, most gas stations DON'T use MTBE already (voluntarily stopped using it) but there is no law that says they can't, and some still do. I think Mobil does. I know 76 doesn't.
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That's incorrect as far as I know. The label you saw may have been there because they forgot to take it off. The total ban on MTBE went into effect in California on January 1, 2004.
Quoting from this web page written in 2003 -
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/servicerpt/mtbeban/
"Most of the attention concerning State MTBE bans has been focused on California, which consumes approximately 32 percent of the Nation’s MTBE.Originally California was set to ban all ethers (including MTBE) by January 1, 2003.That deadline has been postponed for a year until January 1, 2004, out of concerns for potential supply disruptions.Even though several major refiners announced their intention to phase out MTBE by January 1, 2003, only ConocoPhillips has already completed the switch.Shell, BP, and ExxonMobil indicated their intention to switch out of MTBE blended gasoline inCalifornia markets by the first quarter of 2003.Valero, ChevronTexaco, and Tesoro do not intend to produce MTBE-free gasoline until California’s MTBE ban comes into effect next January."
And here's a recent editorial about MTBE and ethanol in California -
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...a/14049435.htm