AIKEN — About half the Graniteville residents evacuated from their homes after a deadly train wreck and chlorine leak will be able — finally — to return home beginning at 8:30 this morning.

Emergency workers Wednesday night gave the green light to people who live in three areas on the outer portion of a one-mile evacuation zone around the wreck site.

“We’ll be working from the outside of the one-mile ring in,’’ Aiken County Sheriff Michael Hunt said.

DHEC spokesman Jim Bradley said these areas were not contaminated by the leak, but were included in the evacuation zone because of their proximity to the wreck site.

“There was not a plume through the whole area,’’ he said. “We have tested these three areas and everything has come out great.’’

Sen. Tommy Moore, D-Aiken, toured Graniteville Wednesday.

“Over in the areas where residents will be returning, I don’t think there will be any visible signs (of damage),’’ he said.

But he said he saw some minor signs of green corrosion on some homes.

More than 5,400 people live within the evacuation zone established a week ago when a speeding train struck another on a siding, releasing a cloud of chlorine gas. Nine people were killed and about 240 injured.

Evacuees have been jammed into hotel rooms or living with friends or relatives.

The announcement of a partial return was made following a meeting with residents in the USC Aiken gym.

“We’ll be so glad to get back home,’’ said Tina Horton, who attended the meeting with her husband, Todd and her sons, Dylan, 10, and Matthew, 7. “Until something like this happens, you don’t realize how lucky you are to have a home.’’

The family has been living in a North Augusta motel since Jan. 6.

Huntreassured residents that the areas being opened are safe. However, they will be offered a card when they re-enter; those who feel uncomfortable, can hang the card on the door and the home will be retested.

People who live nearer the crash site will likely have to wait awhile longer to return home, officials said.

The Sheriff's Department won’t completely lift the evacuation order until all the chlorine from all three cars is removed. Emergency workers declined to estimate how long this will take.

Norfolk Southern railroad officials said one undamaged car has been emptied. They began to empty a second tanker Wednesday and estimated the work could take up to 24 hours.

Removing poisonous gas from a third car that ruptured has proven to be more difficult.

Workers Wednesday were still trying to attach a tailored, permanent steel patch over a fist-sized hole in the car to replace a temporary patch. At the same time, sodium hydroxide, which bonds with the chlorine to form bleach, was being pumped into the car. The bleach is then pumped out.

In other developments:

• Gov. Mark Sanford on Wednesday asked President Bush and the U.S. Small Business Administration to make the county eligible for federal financial assistance and low-interest rate loans.

• Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and U.S. Rep. Gresham BarrettR-S.C., toured the area meeting with residents as well as federal, state and local officials.

DeMint praised the coordination of nearly 100 agencies that have responded to the accident and assured residents that all federal help available will be marshaled.

“We’ve even heard in Washington that this is the model of response (to a disaster) since 9/11,” he said. • Police warned that a Charlotte-based telemarketer has been contacting area residents asking for donations to the Warrenville Police Department. There is no Warrenville Police Department.

“Do not give them money; it’s a scam,” Hunt said.

• More than 20 people have returned to hospitals for further checkups after complaining of further effects from the chemical leak. Representatives of Aiken Regional Medical Center and University Hospital in Augusta said the complaints were minor.

The chemical irritated and sometimes burned people’s lungs. After oxygen and jet nebulizer treatments, the symptoms were relieved. But once people returned home, the symptoms returned, the representatives said.

“The complaints of sore throats and coughing are nothing that required further treatment or admission to the hospital,” said Dr. Clifford Staggs, an emergency room physician at Aiken Regional.

Reach Wilkinson at (803) 771-8495 or jwilkinson@thestate.com.