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Inspectors make rounds at state fuel pumps

Posted at 10:40 PM, Mar 01, 2012
and last updated 2012-03-02 00:29:49-05

RICHMOND, Va (WTVR)-- This week you might see Inspectors at the fuel pumps.

They are specifically checking to make sure the correct amount of fuel you purchase is being dispensed, and they also check the quality of that fuel.

As prices at the pump continue to soar, drivers are making sure they get what they pay for, every last drop.

“Even though it stops, I hold the pump to the gas tank to make sure every little drip comes out,” one driver told CBS 6.

You’re not alone. This week, inspectors are out checking pumps to make sure penny-pinching drivers are not getting shortchanged.

“We just show up. We never tell anyone we're coming," said Elaine Lidholm with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Lidholm told CBS 6 that inspectors are specifically checking to make sure the amount of fuel you purchase is being dispensed and they also check the quality of that fuel.

“We analyze them to make sure that the octane is correct, that the amount of ethanol is correct," she said. "We check for adulteration or sediment or anything like that."

In 2011, nearly 2400 pumps across the state were rejected by inspectors because the fuel was impure or because the pump was dolling out either too much or too little fuel.

While 95% of pumps are up to code, according to Lidholm, as the price of gas increases, so do the volume of calls inspectors receive from skeptical drivers.