By John Howell
A chemical spill early Thursday morning at Crown Cork and Seal’s Batesville manufacturing facility prompted a precautionary evacuation, acting plant manager Tom Johnson said.

Work at the plant was expected to resume at noon Thursday. An outside contractor haz-mat team was being utilized for cleanup and further inspection.

Batesville Fire Chief Tim Taylor said that an engine and a ladder truck were sent to the plant on Highway 35 North about 3:10 a.m. “Basically there was no emergency situation,” Taylor said firefighters learned on arrival.

Panola Emergency Management Agency Director Daniel Cole also responded to the spill site.
Johnson would not identify the chemical that was spilled. The material that leaked from a tank on site was “self-contained” and not introduced into the city’s sanitary sewer system, he said.

A security guard at Crown Cork and Seal told an employee that work would resume at noon Thursday after the plant was evacuated early Thursday as a precautionary measure following a chemical spill.