Paulsboro evacuation order extended until Saturday

PAULSBORO - When a train derailed Friday in this small town on the Delaware River, spilling a tanker of vinyl chloride into a nearby creek, officials evacuated 12 residential blocks almost immediately.

Now, even as cleanup crews scramble to pump the toxic chemical out of the creek, officials have extended that evacuation order through Saturday, which means that members of 48 households in the evacuation zone won't be able to get home for the rest of the week.

Public schools will reopen Monday, but Guardian Angels Regional Catholic School will send its students to its Gibbstown campus for the week. The Head Start Center of Paulsboro will also be closed through Friday, and municipal court proceedings have been canceled for Monday.

ConRail, the company that owns the tracks on which the 82-car train derailed on Friday, is providing hotel rooms and vouchers for everything from laundry to restaurants, officials said Sunday.

But displaced residents expressed frustration with their situation, with some saying they had spent the weekend in a state of uncertainty and simply wanted to return home. Some said that they were running out of money despite ConRail's promises to reimburse expenses for the displaced.

"Our whole neighborhood's in this hotel," said Sean McFarland, 48, leaning out of a second-floor window at a Motel 6 just outside town. "I'd much rather be at home."

A diesel mechanic who lives in the evacuation zone, he and his family had spent the past several nights at the motel. His neighbor, Lisa Driver, said the community is trying to keep its spirits up.

"We're just trying to remain upbeat. It's a fiasco," she said Sunday. On Friday, she evacuated with her two dogs as white vapor - spilled vinyl chloride in gas form - swirled around her ankles.

Train crew members told the National Transportation Safety Board that they had arrived at the century-old bridge crossing the Mantua Creek early Friday morning to find the bridge, which opens and closes to accommodate river traffic, already closed - an unusual occurrence, NTSB representatives said. The 82-car train had left Camden that morning and was heading to a trainyard at Carneys Point, stopping in several towns along the way.

Although the bridge was closed, the signal light was red, indicating that the train could not cross the bridge, the crew said. A conductor left the train to inspect the bridge, they said, and told other train crew members the bridge seemed fine. An engineer obtained permission from a dispatcher to cross the bridge against the red signal, NTSB representatives said.

The bridge opens and closes like a hinge, allowing river traffic to pass through. It normally remains open with the crossing light in red to alert train crews that they cannot cross. The bridge last underwent a weekly track inspection Nov. 20.

The crew was crossing the bridge Friday morning at 7 m.p.h. - the speed limit is 10 m.p.h. - when the emergency brakes activated, NTSB representatives said. They looked back to see the bridge collapsing behind them.

On Sunday, NTSB officials said they'd confirmed the train crew's account of the incident, and added they're working to figure out what went wrong during the crash. They've brought a laser scanner to the scene of the derailment and are looking to survey the crash before cleanup begins in earnest, as well as check the bridge for mechanical and structural deficiencies.

In the evacuation zone, first responders worked to pump out liquified vinyl chloride from a punctured tanker in Mantua Creek. Three other cars on the train were also carrying the substance, but were not breached.

Removing the other tankers in the creek will be tricky, officials said. Debris from the crash is still in the water and must be removed before crews can begin working on the other four cars in the creek.

"We still have containers of vinyl chloride [in the creek], and as long as we've got vinyl chloride we're taking precautions," said Coast Guard Capt. Todd Wiemers.

In downtown Paulsboro Sunday, police officers were stationed at every intersection leading into the 12-block evacuation zone. A few families had refused to leave the area despite warnings of potential health hazards - exposure to vinyl chloride can cause dizziness, drowsiness and headaches - but for the most part, the streets near Mantua Creek sat empty, cordoned off by orange cones and caution tape.

Local officials said they were focusing on cleanup efforts but reiterated the need to repair the bridge as soon as possible. Refineries in the area that depend on railways to transport chemical loads will be served by trucks and barges until the bridge is repaired, said N.J. Assemblyman John Burzichelli, a former Paulsboro mayor.

He said he planned to ask the Legislature to help fund a new bridge.

"There's no way a bridge that still has parts from 1873 has any place at a major rail site," he said.