A new law that went into effect Wednesday bars Oregon gas station attendants from topping off your tank, part of a new Department of Environmental Quality policy intended to reduce the health risk of gasoline vapors.

The rule is targeted toward reducing benzene, a carcinogenic chemical that occurs naturally in crude oil and is sometimes used as a gasoline additive. William Knight, a spokesman for DEQ, said refineries in the Northwest will begin removing benzene from gasoline in the coming years but that the new rule will help protect the health of both gas station attendants and customers.

“As the benzene gets taken out of the fuel, that’s going to lessen the impact of that particular pollutant, but we still have organic chlorides and volatile organic compounds, the VOCs, as we call them — just some really nasty stuff that comes from gasoline fumes,” he said.

Knight said many stations have been voluntarily moving away from topping off drivers’ tanks prior to the implementation date.

“It’s something we were pretty surprised and pleased to see as well. Stations were right on this,” he said. “Particularly the ones in larger metropolitan areas like Portland, Bend and Medford. A significant portion of them just went ahead and implemented it when they figured out we were working on this rule back in the fall.”

Beyond the hazard presented by vapors from spilled gasoline, overfilling can have other negative effects.

According to the DEQ, topping off can mean drivers are paying for gasoline that never ends up in their tank. Newer nozzles are built with backflow capture devices, Knight said, drawing the gasoline back in to the station’s storage tanks even while the customer’s bill continues to climb.

Knight said overfilling can also fill the vapor capture system between the tank and the filler neck with liquid gasoline, potentially leading to unsafe levels of pressure within the tank and harming the performance of the vehicle.

Most gas station attendants have been responsible in the past, Knight said, and he doesn’t expect the DEQ to actively go out looking for stations that may not be abiding with the new law. Attendants who get a “false click” from their nozzles shouldn’t hesitate to continue filling a tank, he said.

“The great thing in Oregon is we’ve got attendants who are pretty experienced, they know when a tank is full, so it really deals with overfilling, going beyond that click,” Knight said. “If you get up to say $4.96 and you’re trying to get that extra 4 cents in there and they guy’s kicking away like crazy just to get to $5, that’s really what we’re talking about.”

Attendants working at Bend stations said they aren’t convinced the change is necessary but don’t expect it to complicate their jobs.

Rick Bjurling from the Westside Texaco on Galveston Avenue said he’s not sure the vapors emitted while topping off a tank are any more intense than at any other time.

“You smell it all the time, but (topping off) doesn’t smell any different, you don’t see vapors,” he said. “At least I don’t, and I’ve been pumping gas off and on for 15 years.”

Bjurling said he’s never made a practice of topping off tanks and rarely has a customer ask him to top off. The one exception is drivers whose vehicles use diesel fuel, which Bjurling said tends to foam in the tank. By pausing after the nozzle first clicks off, the foam dissipates, and another 2 to 3 gallons can be added.

“I guess now when they ask us, we’ve just gotta tell them no,” he said.

Brandon Miller, an attendant at Towne Pump on Third Street, called the new rule “ridiculous.” Oregon attendants pump gas all day due to the state law against drivers pumping their own gas, Miller said, and learn what to look and listen for to avoid spilling or releasing excess vapors.

Miller said he’s puzzled by the DEQ claim that customers are paying for gasoline that returns to the station’s tank during a top off. Nozzles that recover the excess fuel are rare in the state, he said, again due to the ban on self-serve gasoline.

“It doesn’t affect me, I’m just here to work. But it does affect customers,” Miller said.

Both Miller and Bjurling said most customers pay with debit or credit cards, so they don’t expect to hear many complaints about not being able to top off their tanks to the nearest dollar.

Scott Hammers can be reached at 541-383-0387 or at shammers@bendbulletin.com.

Nonsense.

You can't pump your own gas in Oygun anyways. You have to have some white trash retard do it for you per their laws (this one I think dates from 1923 or something).

If you take that away from them their unemployment would probably go to 20% from 12.4% currently.

But as their economy is literally going into the tiolet I'm glad have found time this.

Bunch of fucking Red Guard idiots in that state.

New Jersey also mandates that Rhodes Scholars employed at the station pump your gas for you. Usually with a cigarette dangling from their lips.

Idiocy.

Once upon a time, no one was allowed to pump their own gasoline. "Self Serve" gasoline pumps started (during the gas crunch of the 70's) as a means for companies to say, "Pump your own gas and save!" Some of you may recall when stations had two or more lanes, one with "Self Serve" and another "Full Service" with a pump attendant and a slightly higher charge. Full Service has virtually disappeared.

In Oregon there have been several attempts by gas companies to permit "Self Serve" for the same old reasons, but the voters in Oregon have dismissed every attempt at the ballot box. Why?

Because the gas is the same price here as anywhere else (or less in the case of California). Sure the gas companies save money with automated pumps, but they don't pass that on to the consumer.

Personally, I like not having to fill up my own tank, especially on cold, windy and rainy days.

There must have been a nasty radiation leak from the ICBM silos in Wyoming and it must have destroyed the brains of everyone who lives in Oregon.

This is the very same state that not long ago wanted to tax beer by a 1900% increase ( that is one thousand nine hundred percent, it is NOT a 19 )

www.businesspundit.com . . .

We need to invade Oregon and reclaim that land back into our democratic country. Oregon is acting more like it's a fucking Soviet Republic.

I pump my own gas. I top that fucker off too.

That said, if anyone wants to know what it will be like after a few years of Obama, come visit us.

The country is so fucked.

I pump my own gas. I top that fucker off too.

Reported.

GreyUhu wrote:

Because the gas is the same price here as anywhere else (or less in the case of California). Sure the gas companies save money with automated pumps, but they don't pass that on to the consumer.

Goverment employees should never comment on privet ecconomic issues .. you just make an ass of yourself. or you're just a retired cop who's taken up smoking crack?

poup working as a gas station attendent now ? Gosh I knew life after prison was hard for you but I thought at least you could get a job cutting down trees

Prophet wrote:



poup working as a gas station attendent now ? Gosh I knew life after prison was hard for you but I thought at least you could get a job cutting down trees

That, or commercial cardlock.

You're a real whiz kid Mr. Two-anus.

Prophet wrote:

Goverment employees should never comment on privet ecconomic issues .. you just make an ass of yourself. or you're just a retired cop who's taken up smoking crack?

As a citizen, consumer and voter, I have every right to voice my opinion.

May I remind you that Oregon retains gas station personnel as a result of popular vote? In addition, we also remain free of sales tax for the same reason.

Most western states have the initiative process whereby the people can bring up legislation and bypass the state legislature.

Its a rather democratic process.

The people of Oregon chose to retain the primary "service" part of service stations. If you don't like having your gas pumped for you, then get it elsewhere. California (or other state) will be only too glad to take your money.

Oretards.

What a quaint place you live in, the USofA. I havn't seen an attendant for years. It must have been in 1989, the last time I was in the US. I usually pay at the pump with my card 24/7. The only place I have to pay a cashier is at a service stop on the autoroute. We have to clean our own windshields too. The equipment is at hand. It would do you fat Yankee cunts some good to get out and do it yourself.

pippin wrote:

What a quaint place you live in, the USofA. I havn't seen an attendant for years...

Most of the USA is SELF SERVE ONLY. Oregon is an exception (hence, those that think it stupid).

I run into this argument quite a bit. For some reason, some folks really like getting their hands dirty as well as going outside when its windy, rainy, snowy, cold, etc. instead of staying toasty (or cool) in the car.

I guess many just don't remember when a service station would have a staff come out and check your oil & fluids, fill the gas tank, check your tires and clean the windows.

Companies have somehow managed to get the customer to do all this for himself, and not discount the price a penny.

:::shakes head:::

This is what happens when you don't control the outflow of Californian morons to other states.

The Gasoline Nazi's

Unbloody believable.

The butt pirates have complete control of Oregon.

So far this year they have tried the already mentioned 1900% tax on beer. This current regulation on pumping gas. At the same time the beer tax was on the table they were talking about making all modifications to cars illegal......unless you could prove the modification would increase gas mileage. They were including fancy rims, window tint, stereos, GPS and ANYTHING not on the car from the factory in the bill!

I see soemone here doesn't get it. You may find it more convenient to have someone else pump your gas, but shouldn't you have a choice? It's the fact that the pinheads in the legislature made a law telling you who can pump gas for christ's fucking sake! What's next, a law requiring a special license and therefore contractor to change a light bulb?

Most of the USA is SELF SERVE ONLY. Oregon is an exception (hence, those that think it stupid).

I run into this argument quite a bit. For some reason, some folks really like getting their hands dirty as well as going outside when its windy, rainy, snowy, cold, etc. instead of staying toasty (or cool) in the car.

I guess many just don't remember when a service station would have a staff come out and check your oil & fluids, fill the gas tank, check your tires and clean the windows.

Companies have somehow managed to get the customer to do all this for himself, and not discount the price a penny.

With the prices of Gas in California and Oregon, you should also be getting a square meal, a shoe polish, and hand lotion with a napkin. Well, maybe not Oregon as much.

The reason people get out of their cars and pump gas, is because it is faster than full service. And people have become paranoid over the years. No one wants to stop and "smell the roses" anymore.

I perfectly remember what full service used to be. But these days people are driving, eating, reading emails, and talking into their nextel radios at the same time. All in the name of "working hard". Sometimes I think this "modus operandi" is more related to cocaine addiction than actual desire for hard work. You can perfectly work hard, take frequent breaks, and work well over 14 hrs a day like that.

When I hear people say the phrase "I am passionate" my brain automatically translates "No, you have a fucking cocaine problem and you want us to believe your obsession-compulsion has nothing to do with it".

Maybe I've gone too cynic about it. But too many times I've seen people get lauded at work for their "passion", while I've also seen their other side "medicating" themselves so they can perform the way they do.

Stopping for a full service gas stop is not a lifestyle that agrees with the obsessive-compulsive behavior that society encourages.

Note to Illegals working in gas stations....
Make sure you use a match or cigarette lighter to see down that nozzle as it approaches the top off point.

Attendants working at Bend stations said they aren’t convinced the change is necessary but don’t expect it to complicate their jobs.

Complicate your jobs? I think even LedZep could handle the mental, physical and emotional stress of being a gas station attendant. I mean 10th grade is challenging for some people but "Regular or Super?" is pretty damned easy.

BilltheCat wrote:

This is what happens when you don't control the outflow of Californian morons to other states.

The Gasoline Nazi's

Unbloody believable.

No..
"we" locals/natives are the ones universally in favor of paid attendants at the service stations.
The Californians are the ones normally sucking off big oil and voting in favor of "self" service.

Do you want your elderly mother having to get out and pump her own gas on a chilly February morning?
Do you want to get out of your car while your five kids are starting a new civil war?

As individuals we all have our own reasons for wanting it this way. What surprises us is the reasoning behind ending this practice.

The oil companies have fooled the Californians into believing it will "lower" the price of gas.

Utter nonsense: Big oil will never EVER reduce the price of gas even if you fire all the employees.

What we are doing is ensuring that when you pull up to get gas at 3AM, you get gas and not some machine telling you "fuck off".

PopsFrost wrote:

Attendants working at Bend stations said they aren’t convinced the change is necessary but don’t expect it to complicate their jobs.

Complicate your jobs? I think even LedZep could handle the mental, physical and emotional stress of being a gas station attendant. I mean 10th grade is challenging for some people but "Regular or Super?" is pretty damned easy.

They also sell cigarettes Pops...

Some even sell wiper blades.

diefrog wrote:

I see soemone here doesn't get it. You may find it more convenient to have someone else pump your gas, but shouldn't you have a choice?

Do YOU have a choice? No. You have to pump it yourself. I haven't see an option lane anywhere, except in Oregon. I have seen a few stations which still have "Full Service" and "Mini-Service", but they are few and far between.

It's the fact that the pinheads in the legislature made a law telling you who can pump gas for christ's fucking sake!

You didn't READ the article, did you? It says 'no more topping off'. Oregon has always had gas station attendants. Gas station attendants typically 'top off the tank' to get an even dollar amount so they don't have to bother with change when you pay with cash. I suspect, they still will with cash customers (like me).

Granted, Oregon does have some silly laws, but they also have some good ones you don't see in many other states. For example, Oregon is a Class 3 state. Additionally, its perfectly legal to carry automatic knives (switchblades) due to a state Supreme Court ruling that includes such under the umbrella of armed citizenry. Oregon also has a pretty good "shall issue" for CCW. NOTE: You do not need a CCW permit if you are going to or from hunting or to a or from a gun range.

That stupid beer tax and such did not get very far in the legislature. Oregonians are pretty good about being active citizens. I have seen politicians recalled and removed from office for proposing a state sales tax, for example...NOT PASSING ONE, just proposining one.

Most of the gas station attendants I see are students. I have yet to see one that is an illegal alien (and I ought to know one when I see one).

I have had more problems with those pumps with the god-awful accordian collar to trap gas fumes in some states. My Lord, You have to stand there the whole time while the gas fills, or they shut off.

Next time you are gassing up and freezing your nuts off, remember that doesn't happen in Oregon.

The rest of you can just STFU!

And all you Californians who have moved in here bringing your AIDS, tree-hugging, homosexuality, gang-banging, and NIGGERS! Can all go back to where you came from.

GTFO assholes!

DropThatPie wrote:

The rest of you can just STFU!

And all you Californians who have moved in here bringing your AIDS, tree-hugging, homosexuality, gang-banging, and NIGGERS! Can all go back to where you came from.

GTFO assholes!

Nice! I like ya!