OGDEN, N.Y. — First responders from around Monroe County spent hours Monday fighting a major chemical spill in Ogden. A 200-gallon container of nitric acid was punctured at the Rochester Midland Corporation (RMC) facility. RMC manufactures cleaning and sanitation supplies, and regularly handles a variety of chemicals.

Spencerport Fire Chief Mitch Flagg said they’re still investigating how the container was punctured.

This was a level one hazmat warning, which means that it’s relatively minor, and folks who live and work nearby are safe.

Chief Flagg said the call came in shortly before 11 a.m. RMC employees worked to contain the spill — and, according to Flagg, largely succeeded in doing so — until first responders arrived. Nitrous acid isn’t immediately deadly, but exposure can cause burns to skin, eyes, and lungs.

“If it leaks out and heads towards any kind of drainage — the [Department of Environmental Conservation] does get involved because it’s affecting the environment,” Flagg said. “That’s their job, so we get all the players here whether we need them or not, that’s for them to decide. But at least we get everybody coming out here.”

RMC employee George Edwards was evacuating with other employees. He said the evacuation was mostly calm, as spills are nothing new to RMC. The biggest difference with this one was its size.

Fortunately, everyone was able to easily and quickly evacuate, and Flagg pointed to RMC and first responders efforts to keep a bad situation from worsening. RMC employees will be back in Tuesday without issue.