By Jason C. Mattox

An automobile accident on Interstate 55 during the early hours of Saturday morning resulted in the northbound lanes being closed for approximately seven hours.

Sgt. Leslie White of the Mississippi Highway Patrol said five vehicles, including a milk truck, were involved in the accident.

There were no injuries, he said.

According to Panola County Emergency Management Director Daniel Cole, 15 to 20 people with Panola County Emergency Management, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, MDOT and U.S. Environmental worked to neutralize the oil and fuel spilled from the vehicles involved as well as draining a tanker of milk.

“We built a dam out of sand and other materials and drained the milk truck,” Cole said. “Then we vacuumed up the milk and it was dumped, with permission, into the City of Batesville’s sewer lagoon.

Cole said the lanes were closed from approximately 3:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.