Paulsboro Officials: Vinyl Chloride Cleaned Up But Evacuations Remain
By Todd Quinones
PAULSBORO, N.J. (CBS) - Substantial progress is being made, but still serious questions continue to emerge. One mother believes her family was needlessly exposed to vinyl chloride for days.
Aliyia Jones and her two daughters live just a few blocks away from where Friday's train derailment happened, but their home wasn't evacuated until Tuesday.
On Saturday, she says they all began to experience headaches and dizziness, which are symptoms related to exposure of vinyl chloride.
Jones went to the doctor's on Thursday and says she was told, "I was exposed to v.c. and that I should not go back home," Jones said.
The coast Guard indicated the second wave of evacuations on Tuesday were attributed to higher levels of vinyl chloride detected in the air.
"We were detecting vinyl chloride in the community all night long Monday night well into Tuesday, weather similar to what we had in the past, I don't have an explanation to that," Coast Guard Capt. Kathy Moore said.
The Coast Guard indicates the remaining vinyl chloride in the breached tanker car has been removed and it's now been 48 hours and counting since any amount of vinyl chloride has been detected in the air.
But it was made clear on Thursday by local congressman hearings are likely as they search for answers about how the clean up was organized.
"The best to avoid anxiety and panic is information. I do think there has been a significant information breach here that needs to be fixed," NJ Congressman Rob Andrews said.
They also want answers from Conrail after initial reports from the NTSB indicate the train conductor and engineer went over the bridge despite a red warning signal indicating there was something wrong…
At this point no clear time table as to when people will be allowed to return back into their homes has been set.
