Updated 08/20/2009 04:16 PM
Sewage Backup Seeps Into Hospital Lot
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City crews worked quickly to clear up a sewage backup that threatened to disrupt service at three Manhattan hospitals Thursday.
Officials say it started in the basement of Sloan Kettering Hospital in Lenox Hill and soon sewage seeped into the parking lot.
With three hospitals in the area, city crews raced to get the problem cleared up.
"This is a hill that it runs up so all the waste water, if the blockage is halfway up the block here, it'll hit the blockage and it'll just run down and pool in this area here," said Fire Department Deputy Chief Michael Mullins. "And it's building up into the parking garage."
Meanwhile, Consolidated Edison was on scene to make sure flooding did not reach any electric equipment.
Con Edison Gas was also on standby and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority re-routed buses on the street.
The blockage has since been cleared.