Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples held a press conference in Austin Tuesday to announce the results of “Operation Spotlight.” The investigation into Petroleum Wholesale, L.P.’s fuel stations, who operates under the name Sunmart, found numerous gas stations have cheated Texas consumers by giving them less fuel than they purchased.Commissioner Staples initiated “Operation Spotlight” after becoming aware of some egregious violation patterns that pointed to the possibility of Sunmart intentionally shortchanging Texas drivers. The three-day operation ended on Sunday, July 20, with the following results:
· 990 of Sunmart’s 1,704 fuel pumps cheated consumers (58 percent)
· 47 Sunmart stations cheated customers on more than half of their pumps
· 15 of those 47 stations had every single pump cheating drivers.
· TDA shut down all of the non-compliant pumps.
While the investigation remains ongoing, TDA estimates the company could be fined more than $100,000 as a result of their irresponsible actions.
Besides Texas, Petroleum Wholesale, L.P. operates Sunmart fuel stations in Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Utah and Arizona. Commissioner Staples has alerted regulatory officials in these states to inform them of this investigation.
News coverage of "Operation Spotlight"
KEYE - Austin, TX July 22, 2008
WFAA - Dallas, TX July 22, 2008
KTRK - Houston, TX July 22, 2008
KXAN - Austin, TX July 22, 2008
KTBC - Austin, TX July 22, 2008
KDFW - Austin, TX July 22, 2008
Houston Chronicle - Austin, TX July 22, 2008
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