More than 20 railroad cars left the tracks Thursday in a train derailment near Millen. No one was hurt, but the Norfolk-Southern Railway had " a mess" to clean up, said Jenkins County Sheriff Tim Fields.
Telephone calls to the Norfolk-Southern Railway office in Millen were unanswered Thursday and a spokesperson from the company was not reached for comment.
Fields, whose office responded to the scene to assist, said no chemicals were spilled and the derailment posed no danger to the community.
"The railroad said only nine cars derailed, but I saw more than 20," he said. "They were mostly containers," the kind you pull with a semi truck, he said. "They were mostly empty, and the ones that were carrying anything were full of scrap metal and ground up plastic shavings. There was no liquid spilled or chemicals to clean up."
The first thing deputies did when arriving at the scene was to check for injuries and make sure the environment was safe, he said. "We verified with the conductor that no chemicals were involved."
The cars as well as the train track were damaged, he said. The derailment happened "between Ga. 17 at Scarboro ... and Millen," he said.
"They've got a mess. There are 20 to 25 cars kind of accordioned on there, and it tore up the track."
Paramour Hill Road runs parallel to the train track and workers had easy access to the site, he said. "They're in the process of cleaning up and said it may take a day or two."
Telephone calls to the Norfolk-Southern Railway office in Millen were unanswered Thursday and a spokesperson from the company was not reached for comment.
Fields, whose office responded to the scene to assist, said no chemicals were spilled and the derailment posed no danger to the community.
"The railroad said only nine cars derailed, but I saw more than 20," he said. "They were mostly containers," the kind you pull with a semi truck, he said. "They were mostly empty, and the ones that were carrying anything were full of scrap metal and ground up plastic shavings. There was no liquid spilled or chemicals to clean up."
The first thing deputies did when arriving at the scene was to check for injuries and make sure the environment was safe, he said. "We verified with the conductor that no chemicals were involved."
The cars as well as the train track were damaged, he said. The derailment happened "between Ga. 17 at Scarboro ... and Millen," he said.
"They've got a mess. There are 20 to 25 cars kind of accordioned on there, and it tore up the track."
Paramour Hill Road runs parallel to the train track and workers had easy access to the site, he said. "They're in the process of cleaning up and said it may take a day or two."