Rhode Island Settles $1.7M Pollution Case With Chevron, Irving, Valero

RHODE ISLAND — Three of the nation's largest oil refinery companies will pay a combined $1.775 million as part of a settlement over pollution of Rhode Island’s soil and groundwater with the gasoline additive methyl tertiary-butyl ether.

The money paid out to the state by Chevron ($175,000), Irving ($625,000) and Valero ($975,000) will be used for emergency response and ongoing MTBE contamination remediation efforts by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, according to the Rhode Island Attorney General's Office. Attorney General Peter Neronha will oversee the distribution and use of the funds.

Methyl tertiary-butyl ether, or MTBE, is a flammable liquid used as an additive for unleaded gasoline since the 1980s, according to the Centers for Disease Control. There's a history of MTBE contaminating groundwater after it leaks from underground storage tanks, like those typically found at gas stations.

This is true both across the country and in the state of Rhode Island. In 2012, a class action lawsuit resulted in a separate settlement with Exxon Mobile for $7 million, stemming from a 2001 MTBE contamination of Pascoag’s water supply, according to the AG's Office.

After MTBE was detected in Pascoag’s drinking water, the town’s only well was shut down, leaving residents without a supply of water for drinking, cooking, and bathing. Levels of MTBE measured in a nearby bedrock aquifer reached concentrations up to 1,000 times higher than approved drinking water limits.

That was just the first of the settlements reached by oil and gas companies with Rhode Island in the last 10 years.

The state has recently reached agreements with Shell, Sunoco, CITGO, Hess, Total Petrochemicals & Refining USA, Inc. (TPRI), Marathon, and Conoco. The total amount recovered by Rhode Island from the MTBE litigation totals more than $18.8 million. In a deal reached with Shell, Sunoco and CITGO alone, the companies paid out $15 million to the state.

"MBTE contamination of public water supplies poses a significant public health and safety risk, one which oil and gas companies knew about well before the public did," said Neronha.

"The work to remediate contaminated water supplies continues, and the funds recovered to date, including today, will be exclusively dedicated to doing that work. In the meantime, this Office remains strongly committed to ensuring that the remaining oil and gas defendants are held responsible for the damage they have caused to the people of Rhode Island and the environment."

Remaining major gas refinery defendants in Rhode Island’s lawsuit include British Petroleum (BP) and Exxon Mobil. Litigation against these companies remains ongoing.