Gas pumps: watch the 6 percent

• Published May 15, 2008

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"You don’t want to shake hands with me," said Tahis McQueen, waving her right, wrapped in a latex glove.

How true. Silly of me to offer, really, as McQueen trundled two metal jugs on a cart toward a Shell station pump in downtown Olympia. The jugs measure five gallons of gasoline exactly. And if the pump shorts her by more than six ounces, she can shut it down as a state weights and measures inspector.

Anything to do with gas is news these days, as prices locally hang around $3.83 a gallon. So no surprise the pump inspection program was in the spotlight Tuesday, as I, Olympian photographer Steve Bloom and a Seattle television crew watched McQueen go through her duties Tuesday.

About 94 percent of 1,800 pumps tested this year have passed inspection, said Kirk Robinson, program manager in the Department of Agriculture. The remainder was split evenly between those that pumped too much, and those than pumped too little, he added.

That’s one reason station owners support the program, said Tim Hamilton, executive director of the Automotive United Trades Organization, which represents independent gasoline dealers.

"It ensures that the integrity of the gallon is out there. The bad news is that the gallon is $4 a gallon. The good news is you’re going to get a gallon of gas," he said.

You can read the whole story here.