| Residents will begin returning home today GRANITEVILLE - Authorities will let about half of an estimated 5,400 evacuees return to their homes early this morning, although houses closest to the wreck of Norfolk Southern Train 192 will remain quarantined because of suspected high levels of chlorine contamination. The residents are returning one week after the deadly train accident that killed nine people. Beginning at 8:30 a.m. residents will be allowed back into three areas to the homes farthest away from the wreck hot zone. Residents living along Trolley Line Road and Laurel Drive west to their intersection with Gregg Highway, those with homes west of Ergle Street and people living south of South Carolina Highway 421 (Augusta Road) will be allowed in, Lt. Michael Frank of the Aiken County Sheriff's Office said. "We would not send them back into this area if it wasn't safe," said Lt. Frank at a Wednesday night news conference. The one-mile mandatory evacuation zone will remain in effect for all other homes, Lt. Frank said. Aiken County Sheriff Mike Hunt said the return of evacuees, which include his family, will take place in phases across the next few days. Homeowners will have to provide valid identification to law enforcement officers manning checkpoints and won't be escorted to their homes, Lt. Frank said. They will also be given a how-to packet prepared by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for information on cleaning their homes. Pat Glenn, a resident of Senior Village apartments, is one of the residents going home. "I've been out of my house since Thursday, but I'll be much more comfortable when I can get home and get some clothes," she said. The gradual reduction of the evacuation zone follows the successful transfer of chlorine from the last of three heavily damaged cars, including the ruptured tank that was the source of the leak. Until that process took place, authorities didn't want to let evacuees return for fear of a second release. Meanwhile, Avondale Mills officials said Wednesday that the plant facilities are in better shape than anticipated and vowed to again open all of their Graniteville operations. However, all of the company's computerized records, including those for its other plants in Alabama and Georgia, including one in Augusta, were destroyed, said Stephen Felker, Sr., the company's chief executive officer. The company's data processing center is located yards from the wreck site, and chlorine has a corrosive impact on computer circuitry. The company's financial records were also lost. "We are having to estimate pay and reconstruct some data," Mr. Felker said. "But we are encouraged that the damage is not worse." Mr. Felker said members of several hazardous materials teams have inspected equipment in the plants. He said most of the machines appear to be in good condition, although some will have to cleaned and lubricated. Avondale Mills employees have been paid while the plants have been closed and paychecks have been made available for them to pick up, Mr. Felker said. He said Norfolk Southern Corp. has yet to provide financial help to his company but said "they will do the right thing." He said the company's 1,700 Graniteville workers are ready to return to their jobs. "One hundred percent of the employees I have talked to said they will come back to work," Mr. Felker said. Moon-suited federal environmental technicians also entered Avondale Mills' Gregg Division plant Wednesday night and registered no chlorine readings on their monitoring devices, said Jim Beasley, a spokesman for the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. The Gregg Division is one of seven Avondale Mills plants and offices in the hot zone of the wreck site. Company officials also tried to jump-start operations at three textile mills and a warehouse outside the evacuation zone while four Aiken County schools on the fringe reopened Wednesday morning. As life begins to return to normal, state and federal officials moved to give residents and businesses a break on tax filing deadlines. South Carolina Department of Revenue officials said taxpayers affected by the disaster would be granted extensions on filing and paying taxes; suspension of enforced collections of assessed liabilities; waivers of penalties; and replacement copies of destroyed tax returns, free of charge. Kevin Bishop, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, said his office is working with Internal Revenue Service officials to provide similar relief from federal income tax requirements. Also Wednesday, investigators were following up on reports of more than 60 people who visited license offices in North Augusta, Aiken and Edgefield to change their driver's licenses to a Graniteville address so they could fraudulently apply for expenses from Norfolk Southern's reimbursement center, Lt. Frank said. Reach Jim Nesbitt and Karen Ethridge at (803) 648-1395.
Developments • Residents living on the edges of the evacuation zone will be allowed back into their homes today beginning at 8:30 a.m. • Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint, Reps. Gresham Barrett and Joe Wilson and Gov. Mark Sanford are asking President Bush for an emergency disaster declaration. • Avondale Mills began reopening the plants outside of the evacuation zone Wednesday. Only employees called by their supervisors should report to work.
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