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WASHINGTON — A trade group filed a federal suit Wednesday seeking to block a California ban on the fuel additive MTBE, which reduces air pollution but is blamed for fouling groundwater across the state. 

Gov. Gray Davis ordered a ban on MTBE after Dec. 31, 2002, because contamination forced the closure of drinking water wells in Santa Monica and South Lake Tahoe. MTBE has been found in 10,000 groundwater sites statewide, with as little as a tablespoon in an Olympic-sized pool making water taste and smell like turpentine. 

But the Oxygenated Fuels Association filed suit in U.S. District Court in Sacramento asking a judge to invalidate the ban under the argument that it violates the Clean Air Act.  

The group contends the ban would dictate ethanol as a fuel additive rather than tackle the real problem of fixing leaking underground fuel tanks that taint water. 

Two other federal cases against similar MTBE bans are pending. The trade group filed a similar lawsuit in July 2000 challenging a New York law banning MTBE in that state by 2004. 

Methanex Corp., based in Vancouver, British Columbia, and the world’s leading producer of methanol – a key element in MTBE – has a $1.4 billion lawsuit against the U.S. government for what it contends is a violation of the North American Free Trade Agreement relating to California’s ban. 

MTBE, or methyl tertiary butyl ether, is included in about one-third of the nation’s gasoline under the 1990 Clean Air Act, which required higher oxygen content in gas sold in the most-polluted cities such as Los Angeles, San Diego and Sacramento. The goal was to fight smog through cleaner-burning gasoline. 

MTBE is the most widely used of such fuel additives, called oxygenates, while corn-based ethanol is the choice in much of the Midwest. 

A California ban on MTBE would have a far-reaching effect on gas production because the state consumes about 40 percent of the 250,000 barrels produced each day, while only about 5 percent is produced within the state. 

But the Environmental Protection Agency labeled MTBE a possible carcinogen. The material moves swiftly through groundwater after spilling in traffic accidents or leaking from underground storage tanks. 

A Senate committee approved a ban last year on MTBE, but the bill went no farther. The Clinton administration considered for months whether to grant California a waiver to the requirement for oxygenates in gasoline, but didn’t act before its term ended Jan. 20.  

The Bush administration hasn’t taken a position on such waiver requests. 

The Oxygenated Fuels Association argued in its suit that Congress didn’t make any choice between which kind of additive should be used in fuels, so a state ban on MTBE would be unconstitutional. MTBE burns cleaner than ethanol, is less expensive to make and is easier to distribute, the group said. 

“Retaining MTBE as an oxygenate will enable California to continue to reap the air quality benefits and cost effectiveness associated with MTBE,” said Tom Adams, the group’s president. 

A Davis spokesman didn’t immediately return two calls for comment Wednesday. 

But environmental groups have advocated ethanol as a better option to reduce pollution. 

“The Oxygenated Fuels Association has proven that its bottom line is far more important than protecting the public’s right to clean drinking water,” said Russell Long, executive director of the Bluewater Network based in San Francisco. “It’s very upsetting that they would try to force Californians to drink polluted water.” 

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On the Net: The Oxygenated Fuels Association is at http://www.ofa.net 

Bluewater Network is at http://www.earthisland.org/bw