Bill would peel ethanol labeling

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri agriculture leaders want to peel the ethanol labels off gasoline pumps.

The yellow stickers that describe the 10 percent ethanol blend of some fuels are scaring motorists away and decreasing sales, the Senate agriculture committee was told Thursday.

"Consumers see anything on the pump as a warning label," but there are no dangers associated with ethanol fuels, said Gary Marshall of the Missouri Corn Growers Association

Ethanol is made from corn and blended with petroleum. State law requires labels on any gas pumps that contain an ethanol mix.

A bill by Sen. John Cauthorn, R-Mexico, would repeal that requirement.

Missouri has two ethanol production plants -- Golden Triangle Energy in Craig in northwest Missouri and Northeast Missouri Grain in Macon. Three others are under development, the corn growers group said.

The plants are projected to produce 47 million gallons of ethanol this year, according to Gov. Bob Holden's office.

Ethanol support pledged

Most of the ethanol produced in Missouri is sold within the state, the corn growers group said.

In his State of the State speech Wednesday, Holden pledged continued support for the expansion of ethanol production.

His proposed budget includes $4.9 million in incentives for ethanol plants and $6 million in tax credits for cooperatives that convert agricultural commodities into other products.

Marshall touted ethanol as cleaner and often cheaper than petroleum. And it provides a financial boost to Missouri corn farmers, he said.

Gas station owners would prefer to get rid of all special labels on gasoline, said Ronald Leone, executive vice president of Missouri Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association.

If the ethanol labels were removed, motorists would have no way of knowing if there was ethanol in the gasoline.

But under legislation passed last year, labels still would be required for fuel containing the additive MTBE, or methyl tertiary butyl ether.

That additive is intended to reduce harmful emissions and raise octane in gasoline, but it also has entered the groundwater in parts of Missouri after leaking from underground storage tanks, the Department of Natural Resources has said.

The Corn Growers Association led the effort last year to require labels for MTBE, considered a rival to ethanol.

Leone said the new law could force MTBE labels to be placed on nearly all gas pumps, because regular fuel picks up traces of the additive when it passes through pipelines that had previously carried MTBE fuels.