Toxic decisions: A sociological study of the contamination of US water supplies by methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE)

In this dissertation I develop a comparative case study approach to the controversies around methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) use in gasoline and its consequences for public and domestic water supplies in the United States (US). The dissertation follows a three paper approach which involves (a) an overall introduction to the substantive issue---MTBE use in the US; (b) producing three separate and stand alone articles of publishable quality to be submitted to professional journals; and (c) an overall conclusion. The three articles are as follows: (1) an examination of two cases brought under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). One was brought by the Ethyl Corporation (US) and deals with the use of methylcyclopentadienyl manganese carbonyl (MMT) in Canadian reformulated gasoline (RFG) supplies; the other case involved the use of MTBE in RFG in the US and was brought by the Methanex Corporation (Canada), the largest producer of methane, which is used in the production of MTBE; (2) a theoretical work examining the role of material agency in the production of environmental problems, using MTBE as a case to examine the important role of material objects within what I refer to as "agential networks"; and (3) a comparative case study of the use of MTBE and the consequences of its use in two US states---New York and Michigan. All of these articles are based on extensive qualitative interviews and archival research on MTBE and its associated water pollution issues. Finally I will provide an overall conclusion that brings together the most significant findings of each individual article in anticipation of new synthetic approach to the study of environmental problems from a sociological perspective.