CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : FRESNO : Tank Leaks Studied to Determine Threat

As many as 600 underground tanks in the Fresno area are leaking and city workers are identifying the contents of 100 of those to determine if they pose any threat to ground water, officials said. “Some of them could contain chemicals that contaminate the ground water, and some could contaminate the soil,” said Martin McIntyre, the city’s water quality supervisor. About 3,000 underground tanks are buried in the Fresno area, most of which are storage for gas stations or processing tanks for dry-cleaners, McIntyre said. The area around the tanks is monitored for any of 90 chemicals, including the pesticide DBCP and a dry-cleaning solution. Chemicals believed to have leaked from the tanks have been found in 108 of the city’s 235 water wells in the last year, McIntyre said.