California IN BRIEF : FRESNO : Motorists Have Tainted Gas Drained

Hundreds of Central Valley motorists lined up at car dealerships, garages and Chevron stations to have their fuel tanks drained of tainted gasoline. The rush to drain the tanks came a day after Chevron announced it had delivered defective fuel to about 30 stations in Fresno, Hanford and Visalia. “We’re going nuts today handling this, but we’re getting it done,” said station manager Bill Shepard of Fresno. Chevron officials offered to pay the costs of draining tanks and refueling them with fresh fuel. They said the faulty fuel--delivered last weekend via pipeline from the San Francisco Bay Area--doesn’t damage engines permanently.