Big MTBE settlement to benefit California

Chevron Corp. and other big oil companies have agreed to pay $422 million to settle a major lawsuit over the gasoline additive MTBE, and much of the money will go to plaintiffs in California.

The oil companies will pay roughly $78 million to a group of California city governments and water companies that claimed that the chemical had contaminated their wells, or could do so in the future. Among those receiving money are a water company based in San Jose, several water districts in the Sacramento area and the city of Riverside.

Formally known as methyl tertiary butyl ether, MTBE was added to gasoline in the 1990s to make the fuel burn more thoroughly and cut air pollution. But it soon started showing up in drinking water - a problem because it gives water a noxious taste and is considered a possible carcinogen. California stopped using it in 2003.

Its use triggered lawsuits nationwide, as local governments tried to recoup the money spent on cleaning up their wells.

SF Gate