State says MTBE not a big problem in Nevada

The additive has contaminated several wells in the Tahoe Basin and is causing more problems in California and other parts of the nation. It reaches groundwater primarily through leaky service station storage tanks but is often more difficult to get rid of than the gasoline itself.

Doug Zimmerman, chief of the state Division of Environmental Protection says his office has been watching for MTBE, short for methyl tertiary butyl ether, but most of Nevada gets groundwater from deep aquifers and that the additive apparently has not reached them.

"I don't see a widespread serious problem," he said. "We're trying to get it before it becomes a problem."

There's still no official federal standard setting a maximum allowable amount of the compound in drinking water. But Zimmerman said his staff, Las Vegas, Clark County and Washoe County are watching for it anyway, using a drinking water advisory standard of 20-40 parts per billion.

He also rejected suggestions that the substance is extremely difficult to remove from the water supply.

"There are ways of getting it out," he said, adding that simply blowing air through the water carries MTBE away.

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