> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # additional Senate votes needed to overcome a filibuster by opponents would not bear fruit. - URL: https://www.smdp.com/and-senate-republicans-to-agree-on-a-range-of-issues-including-ethanol-tax-subsidies-tax-breaks-for-clean-coal-technology-and-the-future-of-mtbe-bill/ - Published: 2003-11-26T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T03:16:28.000Z - Author: Guest Author - Tags: Business, Santa Monica, #archive-import additional Senate votes needed to overcome a filibuster by opponents would not bear fruit. By the far the biggest settlement of its kind, three major oil companies agreed last week to pay Santa Monica City Hall hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up the city’s drinking water. The settlement allocates an additional $92.5 million to cover the city’s costs incurred since the Santa Monica’s water supply was tainted by MTBE seven years ago. The agreement comes after more than three years of litigation and thousands of hours spent trying to get the oil companies to pay for allowing MTBE to leak into the city’s drinking water supply. Santa Monica officials breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the legislation was taken off the table. City Council members were vehemently opposed to the bill. If MTBE manufacturers were protected from liability lawsuits, the city of Santa Monica wouldn’t have been able to get money from the oil companies for clean-up. “Santa Monica has shown how important it is for all cities that have MTBE contamination to have all the tools possible,” said Mayor Richard Bloom. “This bill would have removed the product liability theory from being used and there is no question in my mind that it’s one of the reasons that the oil companies came to the bargaining table and settled.” The gasoline additive has emerged as a major water contamination problem — several places, like Orange County and Cambria, are seeking damages from oil companies. In South Lake Tahoe, four oil companies agreed last year to pay $69 million to settle claims that MTBE was a “defective product” that could contaminate water supplies. That legal argument would have been barred by the energy bill, although supporters say communities still could sue if they can prove someone was responsible for a leak or spill. Critics say in most cases, that would protect the industry. “It sounds like those who poisoned our water with MTBE will get off scot-free,” Sen. Barbara Boxer said in a statement. The bill passed the House easily last week. Failure to get a bill was a disappointment to the White House. Republican leaders vowed to return to the $31 billion measure early next year. Most of the manufacturers of MTBE, a petroleum-based gasoline additive that has been contaminating drinking water all over the country, are in Texas. Resistance came from California Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Boxer, who opposed various provisions, including one that would shield makers of MTBE from product liability lawsuits. California is phasing out MTBE and it is supposed to be banned from gasoline in the state starting Jan. 1. California officials, including many Republicans, also objected to a provision that would’ve doubled ethanol production to 5 billion gallons a year by 2012\. The corn-based additive and MTBE are the only products available that satisfy federal requirements that gasoline include an oxygenate to reduce pollution. California Democrats also argued the energy bill would crack open the door to offshore drilling, in part by making it harder for the state to control activities off its shoreline. The failure of the bill rests on the inability of House *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 26, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/112603.pdf?ref=smdp.com)