(UPI) Residents of a Maine neighborhood awoke to a pungent mess when a truck dumped gallons of chicken parts on more than a mile of road.

Portland police said the tailgate on a truck operated by Maine-based food waste collection company Agri-Cycle malfunctioned about 5 a.m. Tuesday, causing waste to pour out from the back of the vehicle as it traveled for more than a mile of St. John Street in the Libbytown neighborhood.

Police said the chicken parts, which were being transported for waste processing, were cleaned up by Agri-Cycle.

Dan Bell, general manager of Agri-Cycle, said the incident marked the first time one of the company's trucks caused a spill. He said the driver eventually realized what was happening and contacted police and company officials, who sent a second truck and more employees to shovel the chicken parts off the road.

Most of the waste was cleared from the roadway by 7 a.m. and the piles of waste made by the employees cleaning up the mess were cleared by 9:30 a.m.

A Portland city street sweeper made several passes on the road after the chicken was cleared in an attempt to alleviate the foul odor.

"We will continue to monitor this with public works to make sure if smells develop we address this immediately," Bell told the Portland Press-Herald.

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