NEWS RELEASE
Committee on Energy and Commerce Democrats
Congressman John D. Dingell, Ranking Member

Dingell Calls for Stronger Protections Against
Groundwater Contamination

Washington, D.C. - Today, Congressman John D. Dingell, Ranking Member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and several colleagues introduced legislation to require all new underground storage tanks to have secondary containment to help prevent MTBE and petroleum from leaking into groundwater.

The legislation would apply to new underground storage tank systems (installed 18 months after enactment) that are within 1,000 feet of existing community water systems, and near existing potable drinking water wells or other sensitive areas as determined by the state.

"We must adopt national policies to protect the groundwater that serves as a source of drinking water for more than half of our population," said Dingell. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure when it comes to stopping MTBE and petroleum from polluting our drinking water supplies."

Secondary containment systems are widely used. The Petroleum Equipment Institute reports that 57 percent of the new tanks installed in the three years from 2000 to 2003 were double-walled. Nearly 80 percent of the piping systems sold and installed were also double-walled.

States that have a secondary containment requirement have successfully prevented discharges into the environment. In Florida, which required secondary containment for all new tanks since 1992, discharges decreased from 3,490 in 1992 to 372 in 2002 - a reduction of 89 percent. More than 20 states already have containment requirements that are comparable to, or more stringent than, the requirements established by this bill. The bill expressly preserves the states' ability to set more stringent standards.

In Dingell's home state of Michigan, taxpayers will pay an estimated $1.7 billion to clean up contamination caused by financially insolvent tank owners.

"The idea is a simple and common sense one - detect and keep the leaks within the tank system before they discharge into the environment," said Dingell. "Enactment of this bill will go a long way toward ending the cycle of contamination and costly cleanups from leaking tanks."

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) introduced a companion bill in the Senate today.

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Click here for a copy of the legislation (pdf)