SPENCER — The Owen County commissioners have to find $6,000 somewhere to pay a state fine for the county's illegal former underground fuel tanks.

The fuel tanks for county vehicles, at 291 Vandalia Ave. in Spencer, never complied with state regulations for such tanks and were nailed with four violations by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

Among the violations were no detention or detection systems for fuel spills or overfills, which allowed leakage into the soil. They also never had the necessary state authorizations for the tanks.

Since the violations were discovered, the county has replaced the tanks with new ones that comply with state requirements.

Still, there was the matter of the violation itself to deal with. And last week the county commissioners signed an agreement with the state agency, accepting a $6,000 fine for them.

The money will go into the state's Underground Petroleum Storage Tank Trust Fund — once the commissioners get an additional appropriation from the Owen County Council to cover the fine.