California v. Atlantic Richfield Co.

EDWARD R. KORMAN, District Judge.

This interlocutory appeal arises from lawsuits originally filed by the States of California and New Hampshire in their respective state courts against corporations that manufactured, refined, marketed, or distributed gasoline containing methyl tertiary butyl ether (“MTBE”). Refiners have added MTBE to some gasoline since the late 1970s in order to enhance its octane content. The use of MTBE significantly increased after 1990, when Congress established the Reformulated Gasoline Program (“RFG Program”) as part of its amendments to the Clean Air Act (“CAA”). See…