OTTUMWA, IOWA -- Southeast Iowa gas prices remained high this week, but at least there was no increase.
The price of the cheapest grade of fuel in both Ottumwa and Bloomfield on Wednesday morning was $3.44.
That is the same price as last wednesday....and according to gasbuddy.com a bit of a break from the statewide average of $3.49 The national average is above $3.53 a gallon.
A trip to Missouri will net you a per gallon savings of one cent.
But that's not the end of the bad news.
A state audit says an Iowa agency failed over a four-year period to inspect fuel pumps and the fuel they're pumping as required by state law and federal regulations.
According to a news release from the office of the Iowa State Auditor, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is responsible for the Weights and Measures Bureau. The bureau monitors the accuracy of pumps and checks fuel quality and content claims.
The audit covered July 1, 2005, through June 30, 2009.
Among other things, the audit found that the bureau annually inspected only 60-75 percent of the stations, rather than all of them as required by Iowa code.
The release says bureau staffers said there weren't enough of them to do all the required work.
The Associated Press Contributed to this story.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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