130,000 tanks leaking contaminants such as MTBE

From the Society of Environmental Journalists:

One of the most important concerns swirling around the latest energy bill discussions about the gasoline additive MTBE is that the chemical readily leaks from underground storage tanks and contaminates drinking water.

Even though leaking underground storage tanks (known by the catchy acronym LUSTs) have been getting fixed for 20 years, a substantial problem still remains. EPA says nearly 130,000 LUSTs are known and unrepaired. Of the 680,000 known tanks that are in use, less than two-thirds comply with requirements for leak prevention and detection. EPA says LUSTs are the most common source of groundwater contamination, and that petroleum products are the most common contaminant. (more...)

EPA acts as the umbrella funder and regulator for the LUST program. Its funding tax (0.1 cent per gallon of motor fuel) has already been extended several times, but is due to expire Oct. 1, 2005.

In addition to EPA's role, much of the funding and enforcement is delegated to the states. Nonetheless, only 34 states, DC, and Puerto Rico have independent programs approved by EPA. The rest require ongoing EPA oversight, though a few of these still don't have agreements with EPA; about half of these states are in the West, while many of the others are in the Midwest (Map of States With Approved UST Programs). Many of these states happen to be the ones with the highest numbers of unrepaired LUSTs. ID is the lone state that still doesn't have a comprehensive program for leak detection and prevention, though it does have a cleanup program.

EPA provides summary information about each state, and contacts. However, some states have thousands of LUSTs but don't provide key data, such as compliance rates. OH is one example.

The Sierra Club says in a report released April 19, 2005, that the number of LUSTs repaired has declined substantially during the Bush administration, that about 9,000 new LUSTs are discovered each year, that there are an additional 190,000 unregistered underground storage tanks, and that about 100 million people drink groundwater in states where delayed cleanups threaten groundwater quality. The report also includes charts documenting each state's cleanup backlog, funding difficulties, and more.