HOUSTON— Lawmakers on Tuesday announced a new law that allows inspectors to check if gasoline sold at Texas stations is pure.
The move comes after an 11 News Defenders investigation exposed a problem with gasoline quality.
The Defenders’ investigation found the State of Texas never had the power to inspect gasoline for quality, or issue fines to those who tampered with the gas. The Defenders found thousands of cases in which gasoline contained water and other contaminants.
Harris County had more cases in which gas station owners had been fined for cheating customers than any other county in the state.
The new law allows the state to fine gas stations up to $5,000 for fuel quality violations. It also gives the state the authority to stop a gas station from selling fuel based on those violations. Lawmakers said the state will not stop with customer complaints and that gas stations will now be routinely checked for fuel quality.
