AUBURN - A foul odor alerted Auburn Memorial Hospital staff to a backed-up waste water drain that had caused a chemical spill Wednesday morning.

The Auburn Fire Department received a call at 10:12 a.m. asking for a ladder truck to help ventilate the radiology department, but a second call was needed before the mess could be mopped up.

Fire Chief Mike Hammon said two hazmat officers were dispatched to identify the chemicals so firefighters knew how to safely proceed with the cleanup.

Roz McCormick, vice president of patient care and services at AMH, said the spill had been cleaned up and the radiology department was open again around 1 p.m.

“The area was not running for a little bit,” McCormick said. “We had to send patients to other areas in the hospital to get work done like X-rays, but the situation is under control now and it has been taken care of.”

The chemicals, which were used in a compound used to develop x-rays and photographs called developer and fixer, along with other acids and bases which had been flushed down the drain had mixed to create a water solution, Hammon said.

“We were able to use Shop Vacs and squeegees to soak up the mess,” he said.

The chemicals that had been washed down the drain were water soluble and environmentally safe to dispose of if flushed with water, McCormick said.