MTBE - coming soon to a well near you?

So it turns out that a chemical that gas producers were forced to add to their product as a result of the Clean Air Act has contaminated ground water supplies across the United States.

What irony (some would say it's typical of the federal gov't), that legislation to clean the environment caused an environmental disaster...

We've been reading about MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether) leaking from the tanks of rural gas stations and seen the results in Upper Crossroads, where the Exxon station at Rts 165 & 152 was removed and now in Jacksonville, where another Exxon has leaked its contents into area wells.
There only one other Exxon in our area that I know of, and that's at Exit 33 off I-83.
Keep an eye out - they've already detected MTBE near the old Parkton landfill (hopefully unrelated, as far away as it is.)

If one more Exxon station gets gigged for MTBE, it will start looking like a slow-motion Exxon Valdez disaster!

Exxon hasn't been entirely alone in this - Carroll Independent and Tevis Oil also have had MTBE issues.

So now all gas producers are switching to ethanol-based gasoline, which requires clean tanks with no water in order to store well. Two local stations decided that the cost to update their equipment for the change was not worth the investment, so there's no more gas to be had at Meadowcroft's or Troyer's. Of course, there hasn't been an MTBE problem from these stations either. They just can't justify the cost of changing over to cover Exxon's butt.

Personally, I think Exxon should finance the entire changeover. When local stations close due to the fallout from a series of Exxon leaks, why should we reward Exxon by removing their competitors from the scene? Will Exxon move in to fill that gap?

Of course, they'll have to pay Peter Angelos first.

Meanwhile, we will no longer enjoy the full-service fillup at Meadowcroft's (I haven't been to Troyers for gas - were they full serve too?) but we can enjoy the cold comfort of knowing that there's an Exxon still operating at I-83 that is officially safe (and overpriced)...

Rudder's in New Feedom is selling regular at $2.75 - Wally's went up to $3.11 yesterday.
What's up with that?

Here's a thought: If MTBE is the poison they say, what about urban areas - are we ignoring it there just because the groundwater is not consumed by humans?