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FRANKFORT, Ky. — With gasoline prices up and summer travel season on the horizon, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s gas pump testing program is more important than ever.
“We inspect gasoline pumps for accuracy and motor fuel for quality as part of our responsibility as a consumer protection and service agency,” Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said. “Our job is to make sure consumers are getting their money’s worth at the pump.”
To meet its goal of testing each of the state’s 50,000 pumps annually, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Division of Regulation and Inspection has just finished cross-training its personnel. All 35 inspectors are now qualified to examine amusement rides, eggs, scales, and net weights of packaged goods, as well as gas and diesel pumps.
“We had a decrease in personnel,” Assistant Division Director Lanny Arnold said, citing budgetary constraints. “So there was a need to cross-train existing personnel to do other duties.”
While the number of state inspectors has decreased over the years, the number of pumps has increased. The number of licensed stations in Kentucky has fallen in recent years from 5,500 to 3,400, but the number of pumps has grown because newer stations generally are much larger than the “mom and pop” stations they replaced, Arnold said. The KDA counts each nozzle that dispenses fuel as a “pump,” rather than the metal housing, which usually operates two or more nozzles.
Arnold noted that if a station is not inspected within a year, it is moved to the top of the inspection list the following year.
To check the accuracy of each pump, inspectors put five gallons of fuel into a container marked in cubic inches. Each pump is required to dispense within six cubic inches of five gallons, which contains 1,155 cubic inches.
Arnold said only 3-4 percent of the state’s pumps do not meet the accuracy requirement. “Most of the time, we’ve found they’ll be on the plus side, giving some away to the customer,” he said.
Arnold said consumers may call his Frankfort office at (502) 573-0282 to report a pump that may be inaccurate. An inspector will attempt to test the pump within 48 hours of notification.
Inspectors also check the calculation of price per gallon, making sure the meter inside the pump remains sealed and hasn’t been tampered with. They test octane level and for water or sediment in gas. They test ethanol fuel to make sure it contains the proper blend of alcohol and gas. Starting July 1, they will begin testing new blends of biodiesel, which is a combination of soybean oil and diesel fuel.
The KDA places a sticker on each pump that passes inspection. But the lack of a sticker doesn’t mean it isn’t accurate, since stations are not required to have stickers replaced that peel off or are painted over.“The customer can’t see the quality of fuel they’re pumping or how much is going into their gas tanks,” Arnold said. “So I want them to have faith in us that what they pay for is what they get.”
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