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A rush-hour

accident during rainy weather Wednesday afternoon caused

a traffic nightmare on Ga. Highway 85.

According

to reports, a large 85 International truck from Griffin

Industries was going northbound on Hwy. 85 shortly before

5:30 p.m. picking up used grease and cooking oil from

local restaurants.

A Mercury

Villager van turning from Carnegie Lane, across from Ga.

Highway 279, pulled out in front of the truck and caused

it to turn over.

The 25,000

pounds of oil did not leak, but about 60 gallons of

propane did, as the truck landed on its side on top of

the propane tank's valve.

Officials

from the Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency

Services and the Fayette County Sheriff's Department

ordered Hwy. 85 closed in both directions, rerouting

traffic onto Hwy. 279 and Kenwood Road while a second

truck from Griffin Industries arrived to pump the oil out

of the first one, which lay just north of the Hwy. 279

intersection.

A pair of

wreckers came to upright the truck, and the entire site

was finally cleaned up around midnight. There was no need

to evacuate the area, but FCDFES officials monitored the

propane leak the entire time.

The driver

of the van was taken to Southern Regional Medical Center,

where she was treated and released. The driver and

passenger of the truck refused treatment at the scene.

There were

no citations given at the scene, and the accident is

still under investigation, although preliminary reports

state that the cause of the wreck was the van's failure

to yield the right-of-way.

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