In Rockingham County, MtBE was found in one of every three private wells tested. In highly populated areas, it was found in nearly half of the wells tested. Forty percent of public water supplies tested were found to contain MtBE, and more than half of the wells serving gasoline stations were contaminated.

Methyl tertiary butyl ether is a chemical compound that oil companies started adding to gasoline in 1979 as a way to meet the state’s clean air standards. In more populated counties—Hillsboro, Merrimack, Rockingham and Strafford—oil companies were required by law to put MtBE in gasoline.

“If people feel that their water has a strange taste, they should have it tested. If their MtBE level is above the drinking water standard, they should forward their information to DES. We would have a confirmatory sampling, and if the level is still high, they could have a treatment system installed,” said Fred McGarry, assistant director of the Waste Management Division at DES. DES does not typically pay for testing of private wells, but it does pay for treatment systems. “We have quite a few of those installed and treating for MtBE,” McGarry said.

For public water supplies, annual sampling for volatile compounds like MtBE is required. That way, “they can pick up any problems that might be coming along. And we could work with them once the problem is discovered. It’s different from a private owner, who doesn’t always check their water,” McGarry said.

A couple of years ago, annual testing revealed dangerous levels of MtBE in one of the Madbury wells that supplies Portsmouth with drinking water. DES funded efforts to discover the source of the problem, and the MtBE levels eventually went down. Now, DES is working with Dover to deal with a well that is at risk of MtBE contamination from an offsite source,” McGarry said.
“First off, we’re trying to find the source of the problem. If we can’t find it or stop it, we would then pay for the design and construction of a treatment system,” he said. 

The source of MtBE is usually a leak in underground fuel storage units, but spillage and misuse of gasoline has also led to contamination. McGarry pointed out that some people dump out their lawnmowers’ gas tanks at the end of each season. Other people, believe it or not, pour gasoline down woodchuck holes to burn out the furry critters.

Using MtBE to help gasoline meet clean air standards was another short-sighted fix in an industry that innovates at a glacial pace. Oil companies used MtBE to meet environmental standards without changing their environmental practices. Now, their hasty application of this Band-Aid solution has led to long-term damage.

A similar situation is developing with ethanol, which requires a substantial amount of petroleum-based fertilizers to grow the corn it’s made from—not to mention the gasoline to harvest and transport this “alternative” source. The rise in the use of ethanol has also fueled the widespread destruction of forests in developing countries. Huge tracts of land in the Amazon and other ecologically sensitive areas have been cleared to make way for sugar and corn, which now has a higher rate of return on the investment to grow it.

It’s too early to measure the full impact of ethanol, but we are starting to see the negative effects of the MtBE experiment. The additive is believed to cause a variety of health problems, including leukemia, lymphoma and cancer.
“Certainly, the people that have private wells should be concerned, particularly in the more densely populated areas. They should consider having their water analyzed for MtBE,” McGarry said.