It's OK to injure Americans as long as you are a Corporation....and guess who's going to get stuck with the cleanup bill....
The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday narrowly voted to keep intact language in a broad energy bill that protects Exxon Mobil Corp. and other makers of a water-fouling gasoline additive from lawsuits.
The proposed legal liability protection for makers of methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, is one of several thorny issues that House and Senate negotiators must resolve to prepare a final bill that would boost U.S. energy supplies.
The non-binding motion by Democrat Lois Capps of California would have instructed House negotiators to oppose legal protection for MTBE makers. The chemical has leaked into water supplies in all 50 states and is a suspected carcinogen. - Reuters
Guess who's going to get stuck with the costs....
From Le Wiki....
The clean-up of all MTBE in the U.S. is estimated to cost as much as $140 billion, including breaking down the compound in municipal water supplies and repairing leaky underground oil tanks. Much of the controversy centers around who will have to pay the costs of this clean-up, if such a task is required.
Recent state laws have been passed to ban MTBE in certain areas. As of 2004, more than half of all states still permit its use. However, the states of California and New York, which together accounted for 40% of U.S. MTBE consumption, banned the chemical starting January 1, 2004. (A table of state by state information is available here at the Department of Energy website.)
In 2000, the EPA drafted plans to phase out the use of MTBE nationwide over four years. Upon taking office, the Bush administration cancelled those plans.