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Summy started representing cities and public water authorities and went after companies that produced MTBE.
FORBES: Demonizing for Dollars
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Summy represents 90% or so of the 140 municipalities, public utilities and water companies that have filed suit.
FORBES: Demonizing for Dollars
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To Texas litigator Scott Summy, methyl tertiary butyl ether, the gasoline additive that reduces air pollution, is the devil--and his savior.
FORBES: Demonizing for Dollars
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To do so Summy had to designate the additive a defective product.
FORBES: Demonizing for Dollars
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"We are talking about the public's drinking water, and these guys have intentionally contaminated it to the largest scale ever in this country, " says Summy.
FORBES: Demonizing for Dollars
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Summy, 40, filed the nation's first MTBE lawsuit in 1995.
FORBES: Demonizing for Dollars
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Whatever his plans, he and Summy have created a monster.
FORBES: Demonizing for Dollars
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To prove that MTBE concentrations below the EPA's threshold still made water taste terrible, Summy unearthed documents like a 1983 Shell letter detailing that water was no longer drinkable where MTBE'S concentration was 7 to 15 parts per billion.
FORBES: Demonizing for Dollars