PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island is suing 34 oil companies in federal court for using a gasoline additive that has contaminated groundwater in the state.
Attorney General Peter Kilmartin said Tuesday the state aims to recover money for the cleanup of MTBE, or methyl tertiary butyl ether.
“The State has incurred significant costs to remove MTBE from sites where it has leaked into soils and groundwater, costs that should not be borne by the State or by taxpayers but by the companies who knew that their product would cause this contamination,” said Kilmartin.
The Democrat says he’s hired outside law firms to help, including one that worked on similar litigation in New Hampshire and Vermont.
New Hampshire sued Exxon Mobil and other oil companies in 2003 for damages to remediate MTBE contamination, saying Exxon knew it was supplying a product that is more difficult to clean up than other contaminants. The U.S. Supreme Court said in May it wouldn’t hear Exxon’s appeal of a $236 million judgment in the case.
The additive was banned in Rhode Island in 2007.
