COURT'S DECISION BACKS ETHYL'S RIGHT TO MARKET ADDITIVE

Ethyl Corp. won a ruling in the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals upholding its campaign to market the manganese based gasoline additive MMT in the U.S. The company has been seeking approval to use methylcyclotentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl as an additive, marketed as HiTec 3000 (OGJ, July 25, 1994, p. 115). It repeatedly has been rebuffed by the Environmental Protection Agency.

April 24, 1995

2 min read

Ethyl Corp. won a ruling in the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals upholding its campaign to market the manganese based gasoline additive MMT in the U.S.

The company has been seeking approval to use methylcyclotentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl as an additive, marketed as HiTec 3000 (OGJ, July 25, 1994, p. 115). It repeatedly has been rebuffed by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Bruce Gottwald, Ethyl chairman and chief executive officer, said, "The decision is a vindication of our long held position that HiTec 3000 performance additive does not harm automobile emissions control systems. Rather, it contributes to a cleaner environment without any negative health effects."

THE COURT RULING

The court ruled that EPA violated terms of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and exceeded its authority when it denied Ethyl a waiver for MMT because of the additive's possible health effects because the law covers only emission effects. The court ordered EPA to grant Ethyl a waiver.

Gottwald said the additive will reduce automotive nitrogen oxide emissions 20% and carbon monoxide emissions 5-6% and cut U.S. refinery emissions by increasing the efficiency of refining, saving as much as 82,000 b/d of oil imports.

Ethyl cannot begin selling MMT for unleaded gasoline until a court rules on its lawsuit challenging EPA's ruling that it must perform more manganese health testing before it can register the product under another section of the CAA.

The company maintains MMT is currently registered, based on the long history of use of MMT in leaded and unleaded gasoline in the U.S.

Gottwald said, "We believe Ethyl will prevail in the registration lawsuit when it is heard this fall, just as we have in the waiver suit."