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COST OF MTBE REMEDIATION
Citation:
Wilson*, B. H., H. Shen, D. Pope, AND S G. Schmelling*. COST OF MTBE REMEDIATION. 6th Intl. Symp. on Bioremediation of MTBE, Alcholos, & Ethers, San Diego, CA, 06/04-07/2001.
Description:
Widespread contamination of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) in ground water has raised concerns about the increased cost of remediation of MTBE releases compared to BTEX-only sites. To evaluate these cost, cost information for 311 sites was furnished by U.S. EPA Office of Underground Storage tanks (OUST,2000),several states, BP/Amoco, Creek and Davidson (1998) and other sources. The majority of the sites were from South Carolina (183), Kansas (53), and New York (32). Information from sites in Maine, Texas, California, and Illinois was also included. The provided costs were project costs, actual costs, estimated project costs, or estimated project costs to date and included site assessment costs, capital expenditures, and operating and maintenance (O&M) expenses. BP/Amoco provided site specific cost data, average O&M cost, and total project costs for several sites primarily in California and on the East Coast.
The average cleanup cost of the 311 sites was $200,827 with a range of $21,000 (a UST in South Carolina) to $1,203,168 (for cleanup of a public water supply in Kansas), a standard deviation of $193,210, and a median of $150,000. The majority of the costs ranged from <$100,000 to $300,000 per site. The 311 sites included 183 sites from South Carolina that provided costs for remediation and operation and maintenance but no site assessment costs. The average cleanup cost for South Carolina was $146,132 compared to $279,022 for the remaining 128 sites.