Wall Street Journal understated MTBE leaks, health risks

As fuel additives, MTBE and ethanol are considered "oxygenates," because they raise the oxygen content of gasoline, allowing it to burn more cleanly and efficiently. Since 1992, MTBE has been used in higher concentrations in gasoline, in accordance with 1990 Clean Air Act amendments calling for higher oxygenate content in gasoline to reduce harmful vehicle emissions; as the Journal noted, most fuel companies have used MTBE instead of ethanol because it is less expensive to produce.
Numerous MTBE leaks -- primarily from underground gasoline tanks -- have contaminated drinking water supplies across the nation. The EPA has cited MTBE's effect on water quality as a reason to "significantly reduce or eliminate MTBE" as a fuel additive. The Journal criticized the 2005 Energy Policy Act as a "subsidy-fest that will raise gasoline prices in more places than it reduces them," but defended language written into the House version of the bill providing MTBE producers liability protection, and questioned the merit of lawsuits filed against them.