GRANITEVILLE - Avondale Mills Inc. officials announced Tuesday that 350 employees will be laid off, a move that comes after months of coping with the aftermath of a January chlorine spill that corroded some of its key textile plants.

"It's a direct result of the difficulties we've experienced because of the January derailment," said Stephen Felker Jr., a company spokesman.

Mr. Felker said the layoffs would occur immediately. It remained unclear Tuesday how the layoffs would unfold, though some employees were told that workers with seniority would be the last to go.

Earnestine Howard, of Augusta, who has worked at the Horse Creek plant for 10 years, said the mill's workers were called into two meetings Tuesday.

She said employees were asked to fill out paperwork and asked whether they wanted to transfer to the Swint plant.

"I feel pretty safe about it," she said of her job. "I take it one day at a time."

There were signs of economic trouble at Avondale before Tuesday's announcement.

The Horse Creek plant had been closed for the past 10 days, Ms. Howard said.

"We were shocked," she said, when they learned about the layoffs.

News of the layoffs spread quickly across the tiny mill town.

Doug Silas, whose Chick-N-Snak restaurant is a popular stop for Avondale employees, said his customers were "disappointed and upset."

"I'm sure we'll feel it just like everyone else," Mr. Silas said.

Avondale has employed crews night and day to clean mills affected by the Jan. 6 chlorine release, which occurred when a moving train collided with a train parked outside one of its mills.

Some of the company's expensive textile machinery has been rendered useless by chloride salts that formed over time because of chlorine exposure.

Mr. Felker said the layoffs will be permanent and will affect all seven plants in the area, which employs about 2,500 people.

"It's a very emotional time for me as well as for everyone because it's their job and their livelihood," he said.

At this point, he said, the layoffs have affected hourly employees only. He did not know whether there would be more layoffs in the future.

"We're trying to keep as many jobs as we can," he said.

The equipment at the Gregg plant, where materials are dyed, suffered extensive damage, said Mr. Felker, and "a lot of the products flow through that plant."

Weaving operations have been shut down at the Townsend plant, he said, because there is no way to dye material at Gregg.

"With the reduced ability to dye fabric, we aren't producing as much fabric at those (other) mills, he said.

Mr. Felker said Townsend plant employees can apply for jobs at other Graniteville plants.

He also said the company is in the process of working out severance packages for the terminated employees.

Because the company's operations are so interwoven, said Mr. Felker, "all the plants will be affected in one way or the other."

Missy Branson, the senior vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based National Council of Textile Organizations, of which Avondale Mills is a member, lamented the loss of jobs in Graniteville.

"Once these jobs are lost, it's very hard to get them back," she said.

In addition, she said, customers go elsewhere when jobs are lost.

Mr. Felker said the company is trying to preserve jobs and the economic tax base for Aiken County.

He declined to offer any dollar figures for lost production or cleanup costs.

"It's a number that continues to grow every day," he said. "It's going to be an ongoing legal process."

He also declined to make any predictions about the future of the mills.

"I certainly couldn't have foreseen the events that took place on Jan. 6," he said.

Reach Betsy Gilliland at (803) 648-1395, ext. 113, or betsy.gilliland@augustachronicle.com.