Oil Companies to Pay State $15 Million to Settle Water Pollution Allegations
“A trio of fossil fuel companies are set to pay the state $15 million to settle a federal lawsuit brought by Attorney General Peter Neronha over allegations that they polluted groundwater supplies in Rhode Island with a gasoline additive that has been linked. Methyl tertiary-butyl ether was,” reports Alex Kuffner in The Providence Journal.
“It was mixed with gasoline to boost engine performance, but the chemical was known to leak from underground fuel storage tanks at gas stations and contaminate water aquifers and soils. The most notable instance in Rhode Island occurred in Burrillville in 2001, which resulted in the closure of the only well that supplied the village of Pascoag.”