BULLVILLE – A looming threat to the residents of the houses across Route 17K from both the Hit or Miss Mobil Station and the Fire Department, MTBE has now become a serious problem for the Bullville Fire Department. MTBE is a gasoline additive designed to reduce engine knock (see sidebar), which can spoil water for human consumption, making it taste "like turpentine" at concentrations as low 10 parts per billion. In fact, some sensitive people can detect MTBE in water at the incredibly low level of just 2 parts per billion (ppb). New York State supports remedial action at the 10 ppb level.

The problem began with an all too common occurrence: a leak from an underground gasoline-storage tank at a filling station. Annie Childress, who lives across Route 17K from the Hit or Miss Mobil Station outside Bullville says, "Back in the early nineties they had a leak in a gas tank there at the Mobil Station, and they replaced it. They dug out the contaminated dirt, and they put it behind the gas station."

About MTBE MTBE (Methyl Tert-Butyl Ether) is a manufactured chemical compound formed from the chemical reaction of methanol (derived from natural gas) and isobutylene (derived from butane). In 1979, MTBE was seen as a useful gasoline additive that would stop engine knock and let non-leaded gasoline burn more cleanly. This was necessary to fulfill the Clean Air Act. However, by the mid-1990s, the other side of MTBE had become apparent, when the City of Santa Monica, California found that its water supply was undrinkable due to MTBE contamination. By then the pressure was on to remove MTBE from gasoline and replace it with ethanol. President Clinton proposed a ban on it, but President Bush shelved any action. However, since MTBE gives drinking water a strong minty odor, and a turpentine-like taste in even the tiniest quantities, presidential inaction wasn't the end of the story. Most states went on to ban the substance (New York did so on January 1, 2004) as more and more cases of MTBE spills made headlines and millions of Americans found they could no longer drink the water coming out of their taps. Today, MTBE pollution is a national problem affecting thousands of areas, urban and rural, wherever a gasoline tank leaked or a spill occurred during the years that MTBE was added to fuel.

Wendy Rosenbach , a spokesperson for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), confirms that report.

"There was quite a bit of contamination, and they removed a significant amount of soil."

Of course, that wasn't the end of the story. Spills and leaks from gas stations are always a problem, but MTBE adds another dimension to it.

"MTBE moves much more quickly through ground water, because it's soluble," says Rosenbach.

Worse still, MTBE is also very slow to biodegrade underground and it can persist for many years after a spill or a leak.

Childress, who is a volunteer for the Ladies Auxillary at the fire department, and whose two sons and husband are also firemen, explains what happened.

"Recently, a truck hit the well head at the fire department," says Childress. "So that damaged the well and they wound up testing the water. Those tests came in at 100 parts per billion or more."

County Legislator Dan Depew got involved to help the residents and the Fire Department. He discovered that the DEC had information dating back to the early 1990s that suggested MTBE contamination of the water had taken place, but that no action was taken.

Childress says she was told the site had been deemed too small to merit earlier action. That view seems to have changed in the past year or so.

"The DEC did a lot of work on the site this spring, in April," says Depew. "They removed a lot of dirt and took it off-site. But my concerns remain the same. I think people need to be given all the information, and I want to be sure that the public is safe. Finally, I'm concerned with property values there."

At this point, it remains unclear how dangerous to human health MTBE is. Tests on rodents have shown it to be potentially carcinogenic, but at relatively high doses. No epidemiological studies on humans have been performed, as yet. However, since tiny amounts of MTBE are enough to ruin drinking water, it hardly matters since people won't willingly drink it.

On July 6, the DEC had tests taken again of the water from the fire department and the nearby homes. The results are still not in, but everyone involved is anticipating the results.

Across the street, Steve and Antoinette Thompson are waiting with great interest to see those results.

"Every sample of our water has seen the level gradually going up," says Antoinette. "It started out at 0.8 parts per billion, and the last time it was three-point-something. What I want to know is what we do when it gets up to 9.5, rather than the 10, when the DEC says it's official."

At this time, the standard remains at 10 parts per billion, although there does seem to be flexibility on such standards. "Originally," says Rosenbach, "the Health Department put the detection limit at 50 ppb, but they've dropped theirs too.

Annie Childress says, "We would like the advanced filtering put on our water supply. But because our levels are not at 10 yet, it's not required. So we can't get any help from the state. We went out on our own and paid $6,000 for a carbon filter system from Kinetico, and that works up to a point. But if the plume of contamination crosses 17K and we do go up to 10 parts per billion, we have to replace the whole filtration unit because it will be contaminated."

Childress says her MTBE levels are low, "0.5 to 1," but she's worried that the figure will rise.

Meanwhile the Bullville Fire Department faces another aspect of the problem posed by this form of pollution. There has been planning in the works for some time to replace their building with a larger one. However, such plans are now on hold, possibly permanently.

John Calaca, Building Inspector for the Town of Crawford explains, "They have to prove that it's not going to spread contamination if they dig up the area. Now, according to the consulting firm, DT Consulting, there's only a slim chance of that, but there's still a chance. So that's a question that the DEC and the Town Planning Board have to consider."

Talking about the residents on the far side of 17K, Calaca says he sympathizes with their plight.

"Unfortunately, it's not the town's jurisdiction, it's the DEC's. The town would like to help the residents, but right now there's nothing we can do."

As for the Hit or Miss and Van Etten Oil Company, who own and operate the gas station, they were taken to court in November 2008 by the DEC and ended up having to pay fines of $10,000 for natural resource damages and $12,800 for petroleum bulk storage violation. Calls to Van Etten Oil were not returned in time for this article.

This spring, the contaminated dirt was removed, and now, everyone involved in the case is waiting and hoping that, with that source of MTBE contamination removed, the levels in the water will start to drop.

"When we have all the results in there will be a public meeting, probably at the fire house in Bullville," says Rosenbach.

"We don't want to move," says Childress. "We don't want to be bought out or anything like that. We would like the filters, but most of all we want all the information."