TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

GLENNVILLE -- Clean water may soon start flowing here again.

It's been more than 12 years since the discovery of MTBE in the town's water required wells to be closed and water to be shipped in from elsewhere. It hasn't been easy, resident Freda Doyle said.

The small shopping center where the MTBE was discovered lost several businesses, including the popular Grizzly's Cafe. A few residents moved away and other residents, including Doyle, had to install water tanks on their property so they could have enough water on hand to shower and use the bathroom.

But Doyle, who helped form and is now president of the Glennville Mutual Water Company, said all that can now change. A well was recently drilled in this rural community and fresh water was discovered. Now the company needs to raise enough money for operating costs.

As part of that effort, the company is holding a dinner and auction fundraiser on Saturday, March 27.

MTBE, or methyl tertiary butyl ether, was discovered in October 1997 to have seeped into water supplies. Small amounts of MTBE are added to gasoline to help it burn more completely and reduce toxic emissions.

The MTBE leak happened at a gas station at the town's shopping center. Some of the town's wells recorded among the worst MTBE contamination ever seen in California.

That wasn't the first time the town's water had been investigated. In the mid-1980s, officials received complaints of water that smelled like gasoline.

A variety of possible responsible parties was sued by the state, and the case was settled for $500,000 with no one accepting responsibility.

Another lawsuit was filed by residents of Glennville against several oil companies after the MTBE was found. Attorney John Linford, who worked on behalf of Glennville in that case, said a complex settlement agreement was reached in 2003.

Part of the agreement was payment of $50,000 for Glennville to start a water company, Linford said. Another $450,000 was contingent on Glennville residents meeting certain other conditions.

Linford said he believes they met those conditions, but the oil companies disagree. Although he's no longer on the case, Linford said he believes it's being resolved through binding arbitration.

One of the companies listed in the lawsuit was Unocal, which was later acquired by Chevron.

In a written statement, Chevron spokesman Sean Comey said, "The people responsible for forming the new water company had to meet certain obligations during a specified time. We believe they have failed to meet those obligations."

Doyle said she suffered seizures and her grandchildren starting getting strange rashes because of exposure to MTBE. A large gray water tank sits on her property and gets refilled a couple of times a week since she can't use the well water.

Soon, however, she hopes the tank won't be necessary. The well that's been drilled is capable of producing 175 gallons of water a minute, Doyle said.

The well is on Eleanor Heiskell's property. She said she allowed Doyle to drill on her land because they weren't getting offers from anyone else.

Heiskell is happy they discovered an abundance of water.

"I think it's a great thing and I'm delighted," she said.

Doyle said she was never going to give up on her efforts to get clean water in her town. She sighed and put her hands up to her face as she described the difficulty of being without a local source of water for the past dozen years.

"It's just awesome to know our community can become viable like it once was, or even better," Doyle said.