Miami-Dade County will replace underground fuel storage tanks with larger above-ground models at three emergency pumping stations in Aventura.

The Aventura City Commission peppered county officials with questions Sept. 1 about safety, environmental risks and inspection schedules before voting unanimously to grant the variances. For a city concerned about visual appearances, this could have been a battle. But after slogging through the main event debate on green incentives  (see separate story), commissioners seemed resigned that these variances were a necessary step to keep water and sewer systems flowing in the event of an emergency.

The county is under a state mandate to replace aging single-sided tanks with double-sided tanks by 2010. In looking at its pumping stations at 3601 NE 207th Street and 3650 NE 213th Street, the county decided enlarging the capacity from 550 gallons to 1,000 was necessary and that going with above-ground tanks allowed more effective inspection and maintenance to avoid leaks. At its pumping station at 21101 NE 28th Ave., near Aventura Hospital, the county asked for permission to install a 4,000-gallon tank.

Each of the new tanks will be enclosed in a concrete structure covered in stucco. County officials assured that each tank has passed ballistics and vehicle impact tests. And the county will add landscaping at each site.

But that wasn't quite enough for a resident of Marina Cove whose unit overlooks the pumping station on NE 213th Street. He wanted to know what type of fuel would be in the tank and whether the structure was designed to contain an explosion. He got good news and bad news. The tanks will contain #2 diesel fuel, which is less combustible than gasoline, but the structure is designed to visually conceal the tank, not to contain an explosion.

In other developments at the Sept. 1 meeting, City Manager Eric Soroka told commissioners:

* The charter school opened its new year with 932 students and that its 10 new classrooms were ready two weeks early;

* Summer recreation programs had attracted 701 participants;

* FDOT will report to the commission Sept. 17 on its study of the Biscayne Boulevard-Ives Dairy Road intersection and Soroka is anticipating good news.