Rhode Island sues 34 oil companies for contaminating groundwater with MTBE

 The state has filed suit in federal court against nearly three dozen oil companies for contaminating groundwater with the gasoline additive MTBE that was used to boost engine performance until it was banned in Rhode Island in 2007.  The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court by Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin and the Department of Environmental Management seeks to recover the cleanup costs associated with MTBE, methyl tertiary butyl ether, which has leaked from underground storage tanks and contaminated groundwater supplies and soils in Rhode Island.  The most notable case was the contamination of drinking water in Burrillville, which resulted in the closure of wells in 2001. Despite the state ban in 2007, new instances of contamination continue to be found in Rhode Island because MTBE persists in the environment, according to the lawsuit.