Gas stations must stop topping off your gas tank according to a new law.
A law went into effect Wednesday making it illegal for gas station attendants to top off a car’s gas tank. DEQ sponsored the legislation in an effort to reduce benzene and safeguard the health of residents.
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.
Read the full article in The Bulletin.
