Countywide

County supervisors on Tuesday approved a nearly $900,000 program to regulate the storage of hazardous materials in underground tanks. The county will hire 17 new employees to monitor almost 10,000 existing underground tanks, 75% of which hold gasoline or diesel fuel, Chief Administrative Officer Clifford Graves said.

New and modified storage tanks have been regulated by the county since May, 1984, when the first phase of the state-mandated regulations were put in place. The program will be paid for by health permit fees and penalties assessed on businesses that have underground storage tanks, Graves said.