How many people suffered injury and health problems in the wake of the Norfolk Southern train crash tragedy in Graniteville, S.C., that spilled an estimated 60 tons of chlorine last year in early January?

It's known that nine people were killed and hundreds more injured, and that most of the 5,400 legal claims against the railroad for minor injuries, mental anguish, home damages, lost wages, spoiled food, etc. were resolved last August in a class-action suit that lawyers from both sides praised for its fairness and swiftness.

But that still left unanswered how many people living or traveling within the vicinity of the spill were left with lingering health problems. Only 259 people living closest to the danger zone underwent extensive health checks last year by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control before the agency ran out of funds.

Clearly, according to Erik Svendsen - who's heading up Graniteville's public health recovery effort - that barely scratches the surface. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, more people than that could be suffering from long-term and possibly hard-to-detect health problems as a result of the chlorine spill.

Everyone living in the area who wants to be tested should be tested. The tests are necessary not only to learn about the health of potential victims, but also for what medical science can find out about the consequences of this kind of tragedy. Sadly, this was not the first chlorine spill, and it probably won't be the last.

Aiken County officials are hopeful the state will at least grant $613,477 for more health screenings at the Clearwater-based Margaret J. Weston Community Health Center. That would be a start. There is about $9 million in available DHEC funds, but not all of that can go to the screenings.

Weston Health Center officials determined who should be tested by using a registry of people potentially affected by the disaster. There are now about 845 people on the registry, says Dr. Svendsen, but it could still grow.

Not everyone who's tested has problems, but most do. According to Dr. Svendsen, of the 259 people who were screened last year, 192 were advised to seek follow-up care. That's a sure indication that many more screenings should be carried out - and though competition for DHEC funds is fierce, there couldn't be many causes more important than Graniteville's recovery.