Editor's note: This story has been updated with information about the village's effort to work out a cost-sharing agreement with the company. The Village of Dexter was cited for two violations by the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration for a chemical mishap at the Wastewater Treatment Plant that caused an evacuation last summer. The village was fined $1,000 but succeeded in getting it reduced to $400.

On Aug. 4, a delivery driver for a chemical company mistakenly pumped bisulfate, an acid, into an unmarked valve on the outside of the building that led to a chlorine tank inside the building. This caused a white cloud, an evacuation of the area, and required the services of the Washtenaw County Hazardous Materials Response Team (HAZMAT).

About 20 gallons of bisulfate from the truck was pumped into the chlorine tank within the chemical room instead of into a separate bisulfate tank.

“The HAZMAT team entered the area wearing respirators, ventilated the building, and took air monitoring readings until levels of the contaminants were considered safe for re-entry,” according to the report.

MIOSHA cited the village for failure to identify pipes outside the building and failure to label hazardous materials and fined $500 per citation, according to a letter from the state dated Oct. 21.

The wastewater treatment plant has two 250-gallon tanks that hold bisulfate, and a 400-gallon tank that holds chlorine. None of them were labeled.

Both violations, which have been corrected, are considered serious, according to the citation.

The village asked for an informal settlement and got the fine reduced from $1,000 to $400, Village Manager Donna Dettling wrote in a Nov. 8 memo of the Village Council.

A check for $400 was mailed to the state Monday, Dettling said.

In addition, the village had to pay about $16,000 for proper disposal.

In an e-mail, Dettling said the village is still working out the details with the chemical company for a cost-sharing agreement to pay for the clean-up costs associated with the accident.

Lisa Allmendinger is a freelancer writer for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at lallmendinger@sbcglobal.net.