Jurisdictions Reach Settlement In Gas Additive Lawsuit

BERLIN — A settlement has been reached in a multi-million dollar civil lawsuit against the nation’s major oil companies over a potentially harmful gasoline additive that leached into jurisdictions’ drinking water supplies.

In January 2011, Worcester County, Berlin and Salisbury joined five other jurisdictions in Maryland as plaintiffs in a $20 million civil suit against many of the big oil companies and gasoline distributors, alleging the defendants for decades have added methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) to gas during the refining process.

According to the complaint, even in small quantities, MTBE leaches into the groundwater supply and gives water a foul taste and odor and can render it unusable and unfit for human consumption. MTBE is also a known animal carcinogen that is linked to many potential human health problems. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers MTBE to be a possible human carcinogen.

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