By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent FRANKFORT, Ky. — The cost of gasoline has everyone concerned lately as prices have climbed to all-time highs in the United States, but a new facility operated by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) will soon make it easier for officials to ensure the fuel running automobiles is meeting state and federal regulations.
A groundbreaking ceremony took place last week for KDA’s new motor fuel and pesticide testing laboratory. The Motor Fuel Quality Program operated by KDA is responsible for the inspection and testing of gas, gas-alcohol blends, diesel and biodiesel fuels, in an effort to make certain quality standards comply with state law and American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) specifications.
“With gasoline prices where they are today, it’s more important than ever before that Kentuckians get exactly what they pay for at the pump,” state Agriculture Commissioner Farmer told the guests at the groundbreaking. “This new state-of-the-art facility will enable us to ensure that Kentucky consumers are receiving a quality product.
“I want to thank the members of the General Assembly on both sides of the aisle who worked with us to make this day a reality. I also want to thank the professionals in the fuel industry who have stood with us.”
According to the federal Energy Information Administration, which provides energy statistics, gas hit an average of $3.10 per gallon last week, a nearly five-cent increase from the previous week and a 15-cent increase over the same time last year.
Currently, KDA sends motor fuel samples to a commercial firm in Nashville, Tenn., for testing, but years of budget cuts, dramatic cost increases and rising demand have affected the department’s ability to test motor fuel for quality and inspect fuel pumps for accuracy. The increased cost of the test has forced KDA to reduce the number of tests it makes from 6,000 to 600 a year.
The new facility, however, will have the capacity to process 20,000 samples annually – which, according to KDA, will be enough to more than adequately sample motor fuels in Kentucky and offer contract testing services to other agencies and states.
Richard Maxedon, president of the Kentucky Petroleum Marketers Association, told the crowd at the groundbreaking that one bad station could bring in a bad product, and give a bad name to all the retail outlets in the state. Kentucky has more than 3,500 retail motor fuel locations that sold 3.4 billion gallons of fuel in 2005.
As part of the testing process, fuel samples from the state are checked for the presence of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), a fuel additive that has been banned in Kentucky and many other states since its introduction in the late 1970s as an octane enhancer.
The use of the product increased in the 1990s as a way to fulfill the oxygenate requirements set by Congress in the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, but numerous studies have detected MTBE in groundwater supplies throughout the country. In some of those instances, the contamination had reached drinking water supplies.
Besides standard motor fuel, the facility will have a biofuel testing component to enable KDA to serve the state’s rapidly growing biofuel industry.
The lab will also enable the department to do a better job of supporting its pesticide regulatory programs, following up on complaints and analyzing pesticide residues in the environment.
The agency is responsible for regulating the registration, sale, distribution, proper use, storage, disposal and application of pesticides in Kentucky.
Cost of the new facility is estimated at $1.65 million, with funding appropriated in 2006 by the Kentucky General Assembly. The facility is expected to pay for itself within a few years because of the cost savings it will create, along with extra funding from service contracts.
The project is expected to be under roof and ready for equipment installation by October, and operational by Jan. 1, 2008. |
