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A pril 2 4 , 1 9 9 6 » T he P ortland O bserver
ODA Begins Testing Motor Fuel Quality
The long awaited, much anticipat­
ed inspection program for gasoline
sold in Oregon is finally ready to
begin The Oregon Department o f
A g ric u ltu re 's 14 inspectors w ith the
The result can certainly harm the
performance o f an internal combus­
tion engine
delivered. N ow w ith the help o f a
hand held portable uni, that passes
infrared light through the gasoline, a
The issue o f m islabeling the gaso­
line is something the new program is
designed to address
sample can be tested fo r octane level
in a matter o f minutes. Each inspec­
to r w ill carry one o f the $10,000
analyzers as part o f their tools for
Measurement Standards D ivision w ill
now begin checking samples o f gas­
o lin e sold at the pump fo r octane and
oxygenates.
make,” says Graybeal
‘Oregon w ill now jo in the ranks o f
other states that provide some q u a li­
ty assurance fo r consumers ~ that
m otor fuel products in Oregon w ill
fuel can significantly shorten the life
o f that investment and lead to more
frequent repairs.”
The screening program is made
meet certain standards,” says O D A
director Bruce Andrews.
“ Federal studies show that the mere
presence o f a gas testing program
significantly reduces the incidence
o f m islabeled fu e l,” says Roger
Graybeal. President ofO regon A A A
Past survey s conducted by O D A
and, more recently, the Secretary o f
State's O ffice have questioned the
quality o f gasoline sold in Oregon
W hile there may be a w hole host o f
problem s w ith gasoline, one o f the
possible through an award o f more
than $292,000 by the State Attorney
General as part o f an o il company
biggest com plaints from m otorists is
receiving fuel that does not meet the
octane level advertised at the pump
"Buying a car is the second largest
investm ent most consumers ever
‘ M islabeled
overcharge settlement reached w ith
the state a couple o f years ago A l­
though the money w o n ', provide for
complete testing o f m otor fuel in
Oregon, it should give the state a
snapshot o f gasoline quality as i,
relates to octane and oxygenates
It w ill be up to O D A inspectors to
do the checking as par, o f their rou­
tine inspection o f gasoline pumps at
some 2,000 licensed establishments
in Oregon. Fuel pumps are already
checked fo r accuracy o f quantity
lin e ’s octane level must be w ithin
seven-tenths o f the whole number
listed as the fu e l’ s octane rating For
instance, a sample o f 92 reproduc­
ib ility standard o f A S T M , the A m er­
ican Society fo r Testing and M a te ri­
als, be outside the national standards
“This will affirm product integrity and
will help identify any persons who
may be abusing the system when it
comes to motor fuel quality. "
George Shefcheck,
assistant administrator of ODA ’s Measurement Standards Division.
norm al gas pump inspection.
“ O ur inspectors w ill draw a sam­
ple and run it through the analyzer to
determine i f the octane is the same as
w hat is posted at the pumpand wheth­
er or no, it meets A S T M standards
fo r re p ro d u c ib ility ,” says George
Shefcheck. assistant adm inistrator o f
O D A ’ s Measurement Standards D i­
vision.
W hat that means is that the gaso­
and w ould be subject to further test­
ing.
“ I f i, falls below the standard, we
w ould draw an o ffic ia l sample and
send it to an o ffic ia l laboratory for
further verifica tio n ,” says Shefcheck.
confirm s a vio la tio n , the results w ill
then be turned over to the Oregon
persons who may be abusing the sys­
tem when it comes to m otor fuel
Attorney General ’ s O ffice fo r poten­
tia l c iv il action
quality "
Details o f the program were ham­
O D A has purchased tw o separate
units at $20,000 each that w ill have
the ab ility to check fo r oxy genates in
m otor fuel.
mered out in cooperation o f O D A ,
A A A . and petroleum industry o ff i­
cials.
What happens when the tw o year
program is over? Depending on the
results o fth e screening, it isexpected
that the State Legislature w ill be asked
to establish a permanent m otor fuel
q uality program.
A t the very least, lawmakers may
be asked to authorize the adoption o f
the national standards fo r m o to r fuel
Ethers and alcohols have been
blended in gasoline to enhance oc­
tane as w e ll as provide fo r cleaner
air.
D riv a b ility o f the vehicle can be
affected by the oxy genate in the fuel
W hile O D A is expected to check
all gasoline pumps in Oregon for
octane at least once during the life o f
the tw o-year funding, inspectors w ill
also respond to specific com plaints
from consumers although the ability
to provide rapid response w ill be
lim ited because o f a lack o f funds.
S till, the program should be very
w orthw hile, according to D irector
Andrews
quality as part o f state standards, ju st
like Oregon’s neighboring states have
done
The program w ill not cure a ll ills.
It w ill help
“ D riv a b ility o f an autom obile de­
pends on many things and m otor fuel
is ju s , one o f those th in g ,” says
An independent laboratory w ith
the a b ility to verify octane levels w ill
do the actual testing as opposed to
“ T his should be viewed as a plus
fo r consumers and fo r the industry ,”
Andrews. “ We w o n ’t be able to
solve everyone’ s problems, but we
w ill have a better idea o f w hat the
the in itia l screening provided by
O D A ’ s new machines
I f the lab
he says. “ T h is w ill a ffirm product
integrity and w ill help identify any
gasoline may be like out there thanks
to this program .”
Riding Tri-Met Easier For Non-English Speakers
N o H a b la In g le s ?
tie s .
N o p ro b le m T hose w ho d o n 't
speak E n g lis h no w have tw o new
w ays to fin d o u t how to rid e T r i-
M et
A ls o new , T r i- M e t c u s to m e r
s e rv ic e re p re s e n ta tiv e s now p r o ­
v id e in fo rm a tio n fo r c u sto m e rs
in the same fiv e languages. T he
T he fir s , is v ie w in g a h o w -to -
s e rv ic e s is p o s s ib le w ith the as­
s is ta n c e o f A T & T tra n s la to rs ,
w h o jo in in the th re e -w a y c a ll
rid e v id e o ta p e p ro d u c e d in se v ­
eral languages T ra n s la tio n s in ­
c lu d e S panish, R ussian, K o re a n ,
V ie tn a m e se and C h in e s e -M a n d a ­
rin .
V e rs io n s in E n g lis h and c a p ­
tio n e d E n g lis h are also a v a ila b le
The e ig h t-m in u te tape is a v a il­
a ble at n u m e ro u s agencies and
o rg a n iz a tio n s th ro u g h o u t the t r i ­
c o u n ty area and can be o b ta in e d
at no co st by g ro u p s .
w ith the c u s to m e r and T r i- M e t
re p re s e n ta tiv e .
“ T o p ro v id e s e rv ic e to o u r in ­
c re a s in g ly d iv e rs e c o m m u n ity ,
we re m a k in g it easier fo r n o n -
E n g lis h sp e a k in g c u sto m e rs to
r id e T r i - M e t , ” s a id B a rb a ra
E d e lm a n , T r i- M e t ’ s p ro je c t c o ­
o rd in a to r. “ B y m a k in g it e a sie r
fo r e v e ry o n e to rid e T r i- M e t
The tape e x p la in s the fu n d a ­
m e n ta ls o f r id in g buses, M A X
lig h t ra il and the T r i- M e t L IF T ,
m o re o p p o r tu n itie s
fre e d o m .”
w h ic h p r o v id e s d o o r - t o - d o o r
rid e s fo r p e o p le w ith d is a b ili-
T he free v id e o ta p e is a v a il­
able to g ro u p s by c a llin g T r i- M e ,
we re g iv in g them m ore ch o ic e s ,
and m o re
at 2 3 8 -4 9 2 6 . A ll are w e lc o m e to
c o p y the tape. T he tape, p ro ­
d u c e d w it h th e a s s is ta n c e o f
C la c k a m a s , M u lt n o m a h a n d
ca te th e la n g u a g e tr a n s la tio n
needed to the c u sto m e r s e rvice
W a sh in g to n co u n tie s and the state
A g in g S e rvice s D iv is io n , is a v a il­
ab le at these o rg a n iz a tio n s :
s p e c ia lis t. The c u sto m e r s e rvice
s p e c ia lis t w ill lin k w ith A T & T
fo r a th re e -w a y tra n s la te d c o n ­
• A g in g Serv ices D ivisio n (Belmont
& H ills b o ro offices)
v e rs a tio n
Those w ho c a ll the
T r i- M e t L IF T p ro g ra m a, 2 3 3 -
L IF T can a lso get the same tra n s ­
la tio n se rvice s. The L IF T p ro ­
• O re g o n E m p lo y m e n t D ivisio n
(dow ntow n Portland)
• Oregon A d u lt & F am ily Services
(east and southeast d iv is io n s )
• Y M C A S e n io r Services (south­
east 122nd)
• O regon P u b lic H e a lth (Oregon
C ity )
• In te rn a tio n a l Refugee C e n te r o f
O regon
• A sian F a m ily C e n te r
• Jew ish F a m ily and C h ild re n s
Services
Those w is h in g to c a ll a cu s­
to m e r s e rv ic e re p re s e n ta tiv e s
sh o u ld c a ll 2 3 8 -R ID E and in d i­
gram p ro v id e s d o o r-to -d o o r rid e s
fo r p e o p le w h o have d is a b ilitie s .
In 1992, T r i- M e t in tro d u c e d a
m u ltilin g u a l b ro ch u re th a t p ro ­
vid e s h o w -to -rid e in fo rm a tio n in
I I languages. T ra n s la tio n s in ­
clu d e Japanese, C h in e se , K o re ­
an, L a o tia n , M ie n , S panish, R us­
sian, R o m a n ia n , V ie tn a m e se and
C a m b o d ia n . The b ro ch u re s are
a v a ila b le at c u s to m e r s e rv ic e
o u tle ts and on buses and M A X .
Nuclear Weapon Disposal Options Considered
O re g o n ia n s to ld the U .S . D e ­
the decade
p a rtm e n t: o f E nergy (U S D O E )
ho w th e y th in k the fe d e ra l g o v ­
From these dismantled weapons,
the U.S. must find a way to ge, rid o f
e rn m e n t sh o u ld s a fe ly sto re and
d is p o s e o f s u rp lu s p lu to n iu m
some 50 tons o f plutonium that is no
longer needed.
fro m d is m a n tle d n u c le a r w e a p ­
U S D O E recently com pleted a
study w hich looks at the environ­
ons on A p r il
10.
A g ro u p o f
c o m m u n ity leaders fro m across
the state w il l m et w ith fe d e ra l
o ffic ia ls .
As the C old W ar ended, the U n it­
ed States and Russia agreed to large
reductions in nuclear weapons. The
U.S. expects to dismantle up to 1,500
weapons a year through the end o f
mental risks associated w ith several
proposed disposal options. Hanford
in southeast Washington could be
used to conduct these activities. The
options include:
• M ix in g the plu to n iu m w ith u ra n i­
um fu e l to use in a nuclear re a cto r
• M ix in g the p lu to n iu m w ith high-
les e l ra d io a c tiv e waste a n d immo­
b iliz in g it in a glass, ceram ic o r
other fo rm
add to these impacts and w ould in­
crease the transportation o f radioac­
tive materials through Oregon.”
• Bury in g the p lu to n iu m deep un­
H anford is only 35 miles from the
d e rg ro un d in g e o lo g ic a lly stable
rock fo rm a tio n s
Oregon border The C olum bia River
flow s fo r about 50 miles through
As the lead state agency on radio­
logical issues, the Oregon Depart­
ment o f Energy (O D O E )is concerned
about the impact o f past and present
Hanford activities on the C olum bia
R iver O D O E ’ s Nuclear Safety D i­
v is io n A d m in is tra to r M a ry Lou
Blazek says “ U sing Hanford io store
Hanford and then flow s fo r 300 miles
along the Oregon and W ashington
boarder.
The p u b lic comment period fo r
U S D O E ’ s environmental study ends
ordispose ofsurplus plutonium could
M ay 7. As part o fth e review process,
U SD O E w ill hold eight public meet­
ings across the country from now
until A p ril 30.
The Story of Ruby Bridges (Scholastic, Inc.): a picture book by
Robert Coles and Illustrated by George Ford, tells the story o f the
girl who desegregated the New Orleans Public School system,
she had to be escorted to and from schools for months while
being confronted by angry parents and protesters. White families
boycotted the schools and pulled all their children out o f Ruby's
class. The book received a Coretta Scott King award.
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