Storage Silo Explodes at Nut Shelling Plant in Georgia

Officials are working to determine the cause of a storage silo explosion at the South Georgia Pecan Company nut shelling plant in Valdosta, GA on Wednesday afternoon, numerous local news organizations reported.

Fire and police personnel responded to the plant after loud sounds were heard at about 1 p.m.

“It felt like somebody ran into the building, and it was like a domino effect – boom, boom, boom – carrying all the way through downtown Valdosta,” a co-owner of a local restaurant, Antonio Carter, told Albany, GA-based ABC News affiliate television news station WALB.

Residents near the plant said the explosion shattered or rattled windows. Debris scattered by the blast damaged a car near the silo and sent pieces of metal into a parking lot close to the site.

Most of the damages were contained to the silo at the site, South Georgia Pecan sales and marketing employee Hannah Russell said in report by the Valdosta Daily Times, adding that the plant’s operations will not be impacted by the incident. The 100-ft silo is used to store pecan hulls.  

“We are doing everything in our power to make sure [the blast] is investigated thoroughly,” said Russell.

It is unclear if agricultural dust played a role in the incident.

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