Lawmakers seek aid from FEMA

By PHILIP LORD Senior writer

Sen. Jim DeMint and Rep. Gresham Barrett said Wednesday they were impressed with the way emergency officials from a wide variety of agencies are working together to respond to the tragedy in Graniteville.

The 3rd District congressman and the state's new junior senator had just received a detailed briefing on the recovery efforts and said federal resources would be sought to make sure finances did not slow efforts to return some 5,400 residents to their homes.

The two Republicans joined Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., in writing a letter to President George W. Bush seeking Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance for the area.

Signed by the four members of the 109th Congress, the letter served to support a letter written by Gov. Mark Sanford, who laid out the state's case for federal assistance to respond to the chlorine leak.

"I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state and affected local governments, and that supplementary federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a disaster," Sanford wrote in a letter to Bush on Monday.

Barrett, who first came to the area the day of the accident, and DeMint, who has followed the incident from Washington, D.C., said their briefing allowed them to see what relief efforts were already under way and what federal assistance might be needed in the future.

"It's amazing to see federal, state and local folks working together," Barrett said after the briefing. "We heard absolutely no complaints."

DeMint added, "Obviously, our first priority is to eliminate the danger and get people back home and make sure they get the assistance they need immediately."

He added the federal government needed to help bear some of the immediate financial burden to make sure recovery efforts move forward as rapidly as possible.

Also during the meeting Barrett and DeMint met with representatives of Norfolk Southern and learned what the company planned to do in response to the tragedy.

New federal regulations, announced Tuesday, would require the railroad to make upgrades in the manual switching system procedures and other safety features.

"It's an upgrade in safety regulations," DeMint said of the proposed rules. "Hopefully a lot of the companies will do so voluntarily, without a lot of new federal mandates."

Questioned about the role of Congress in helping to prevent future accidents, DeMint and Barrett said the lessons learned from the Graniteville accident and the response to the chlorine leak need to be shared nationally.

"It is our responsibility to make sure the American people are safe," DeMint said.

Contact Philip Lord at plord@aikenstandard.com.

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