Plainview Funnies
01-10-2008, 01:56 PM
January 10, 2008
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Plainview water panel loses MTBE suit
BY JENNIFER SMITH | jennifer.smith@newsday.com
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Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Fark Google Newsvine Reddit Yahoo Print Reprints Post Comment Text size: The Plainview Water District has failed to convince a state judge that several oil companies should pay for costs the district says it will eventually incur from gasoline spills near supply wells.
Although the lawsuit had drawn interest because it could have required oil companies to pay for future pollution, the judge's decision apparently hinged on the water district's inability to prove that the spills -- containing the potentially carcinogenic fuel additive MTBE -- posed a "real and imminent" threat to the wells.
MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether) moves quickly through groundwater and is costly to remove from supply wells.
"It is undisputed that more than six years have elapsed since the instant action was commenced without any MTBE impact on the Plant 1 wells. Therefore, they are not 'imminently' threatened as a matter of law," Justice Kenneth A. Davis wrote in his Jan. 9 decision.
"Plaintiff also failed in its burden to prove when, if ever, the alleged threat to its Plant 1 wells would occur."
Davis also said expert witnesses for the district "based thr opinions and models on unrealistic assumptions."
The complaint was dismissed without costs.
Attorneys for the district and for the defendants, which include Exxon Mobil, declined to comment until they had read the decision, which was released Thursday.
Langberg and Ed
Search Newsday.com Web enhanced by Login or register Home Delivery
Plainview water panel loses MTBE suit
BY JENNIFER SMITH | jennifer.smith@newsday.com
Article tools
E-mail Share
Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Fark Google Newsvine Reddit Yahoo Print Reprints Post Comment Text size: The Plainview Water District has failed to convince a state judge that several oil companies should pay for costs the district says it will eventually incur from gasoline spills near supply wells.
Although the lawsuit had drawn interest because it could have required oil companies to pay for future pollution, the judge's decision apparently hinged on the water district's inability to prove that the spills -- containing the potentially carcinogenic fuel additive MTBE -- posed a "real and imminent" threat to the wells.
MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether) moves quickly through groundwater and is costly to remove from supply wells.
"It is undisputed that more than six years have elapsed since the instant action was commenced without any MTBE impact on the Plant 1 wells. Therefore, they are not 'imminently' threatened as a matter of law," Justice Kenneth A. Davis wrote in his Jan. 9 decision.
"Plaintiff also failed in its burden to prove when, if ever, the alleged threat to its Plant 1 wells would occur."
Davis also said expert witnesses for the district "based thr opinions and models on unrealistic assumptions."
The complaint was dismissed without costs.
Attorneys for the district and for the defendants, which include Exxon Mobil, declined to comment until they had read the decision, which was released Thursday.
Langberg and Ed