COLUMBIA - Graniteville community leaders will dedicate a memorial today, remembering those who were killed during a deadly train derailment and the workers who responded to the disaster 16 months ago.

But the event also will be a reminder of the state funding organizers say was promised for the memorial but never delivered.

"We were told in the beginning, there was 340,000 dollars appropriated from the state for the Graniteville disaster relief fund," said Graniteville-Vaucluse-Warrenville Volunteer Fire Chief Phil Napier. "And we were told some of that was to go toward the memorial. That never happened."

The $30,000 trianglular-shaped memorial lists the names of the nine victims who died after a Norfolk Southern train slammed into another parked train. The crash ruptured a chlorine tanker and released a toxic cloud over the mill town. Hundreds of people were injured and roughly 5,400 residents were evacuated.

The memorial was mostly funded through private sources, including money raised through the sale of T-shirts, Napier said. Aiken County Council donated $500, he said.

Local religious leaders and disaster survivors will speak during the ceremony, but state officials weren't asked to say anything, Napier said.

"We don't want this to be a political opportunity for anyone," said Napier, who along with his firefighters, was one of the first to respond. "We feel like the purpose of this is to honor those who lost their lives. We don't want it to be used for any political press. It's not a show and be seen type of event."

State funds have been sent to Aiken County in quarterly $85,000 checks, but the county has not decided how to spend the money.

Rep. Roland Smith, R-Langley, said the money was always earmarked for law enforcement and might not have passed through the General Assembly without being labeled disaster relief.

"I was trying to help by asking for some money to reimburse the community," said Smith, who thinks money for memorials should be raised privately. "Any time you have money coming to the county it's going to help all the community."

Napier said if the money is labeled for disaster relief in Graniteville, it should be spent there even if it's to help pay for the memorial.

Smith said he hopes the funding controversy doesn't over shadow today's 11 a.m. ceremony.

"This monument being dedicated ought to be a day of celebration," Smith said. "It should be about celebrating and recognizing those people who lost their lives and where injured. And thank God they raised the money."