Application of first order kinetics to characterize MTBE natural attenuation in groundwater.

Methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) was a gasoline oxygenate that became widely used in reformulated gasoline as a means to reduce air pollution in the 1990s. Unfortunately, many of the underground storage tanks containing reformulated gasoline experienced subsurface releases which soon became a health concern given the increase in public and private water supplies containing MTBE. Many states responded to this by banning the use of MTBE as an additive, including Connecticut.