Oil Companies Lose Effort to End Suits Over Contaminated Water

By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO

Published: April 21, 2005

A federal judge ruled yesterday that major oil companies must defend dozens of lawsuits accusing them of fouling groundwater by using a gasoline additive that has become a political liability in the proposed energy bill.

The ruling means that plaintiffs can proceed with some 80 lawsuits against oil companies asserting that the additive, methyl tertiary-butyl ether, or MTBE, fouled groundwater. The suits were brought by water providers, towns, counties and cities, including New York City and the state of New Hampshire. First filed in state courts, the suits were consolidated last year in federal court in New York.