By Tommy Mann Jr.

The News staff writer

ORANGE — A state operated department is making sure one fuel company is providing customers with what they are paying for at the pump.

The Texas Department of Agriculture was in town Monday afternoon performing a second follow up inspection at the Sunmart convenience store, located at 333 Lutcher Drive.

Petroleum Wholesale, the owner the station, was investigated recently for allegedly shortchanging Texas drivers at the pump. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott filed legal action against the company earlier this month.

Petroleum Wholesale, which operates Sunmart Travel Centers & Convenience Stores in several states, is charged with violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA) by maintaining fuel pumps that were improperly calibrated in a manner that benefited the company financially.

From July 18 through July 20, TDA inspectors conducted “Operation Spotlight,” a concerted effort to test approximately 1,700 Sunmart pumps. The investigations revealed that 985 pumps were dispensing less than a full gallon of gas or diesel fuel. Fifteen Sunmart stations had 100 percent of their pumps calibrated in the company’s favor.

“Our blitz two weeks ago revealed the Sunmart location in Orange had 94 percent of its pumps out of compliance,” Brian Black of the Texas Department of Agriculture said. “We did another surprise inspection at the end of July and everything was good. Our inspection on Monday was to test the high volume diesel pumps used by truckers, and they were all within our parameters.”

Black said the Texas Department of Agriculture conducts about 70,000 fuel pump inspections per year, and, on average, about 95 percent are in compliance.

Black said when pumps are found to be outside of tolerance levels, the pump is shut off until a third party agency can come out and make repairs to the unit before it can be returned to working order.

“If we find out a pump has been turned back and has not been fixed, then that is when the fines really start to add up,” Black said. “We always do a follow up inspection after we shut down pumps.”

Black said pumps are tested once every four years on average, but the department immediately follows up on complaints of pumps which are reported to be inaccurately dispensing fuel.

“With the way gas prices have risen over the last several months, we have been receiving a lot of complaints,” he said. “And if the pump is not serving the customer properly, then we shut them down.”

To test a fuel pump for accuracy, a work crew uses a five gallon prover to measure the amount of fuel dispensed. A pump is required to meet tolerance levels within six cubic inches, which Black said is the equivalent of approximately six tablespoons.

Black said the Texas Department of Agriculture will continue its investigation and continue working with the attorney general’s office to gather more information in this case.