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Abstract

The intent of this paper is to provide a balanced, scientific approach to estimating the national cost for remediation of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) releases from existing leaking underground storage tank (LUST) sites. A draft version of this paper was distributed to a limited number of external peer reviewers, who subsequently participated in expert panel discussions to finalize the paper. Panelists included members of state and federal regulatory agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Underground Storage Tanks (EPA OUST) and local professors. Through this limited peer review process, we received suggestions related to clarifying the scope and context of this study, and providing additional detail for our calculations and analysis. These suggestions are incorporated into this paper. The result is an estimated $2.0 billion for the remediation of MTBE releases from existing LUST sites. A sensitivity analysis, which was added to our research as a result of the peer review process, presents a discussion of cost variations that could result from altering our baseline assumptions.

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