http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/special_reports&id=9186595

 

Well it turns out the situation was a lot worse then it was said to be. My wife and kids were like 2 blocks away from the derailment. My buddy was on scene for 12 hours. My friggin dad was 2 blocks away. All in the death zone. Not to mention I know a lot of people in that town.

 

And all the people that took the $500 can't sue

 

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Hope everything turns out alright.  That's crazy. 

A situation like that would call for a mass casuality unit or more than one. See its not all conspiracies

 

members of the emergency response command staff testified to the NTSB they were provided with a map, that has never been released to the public until now...

 

 

"They knew they were dealing with very high levels of vinyl chloride, none of that information was relayed to the first responders," 

 

 

In a NTSB hearing about the incident, investigators say initially residents, police and firefighters on the ground were told the chemical was not toxic.

 

Nothing to see bere.

I worked that incident.  The information was not passed to us to take respiratory protection when transporting victims to hospitals.  Whether or not the command staff knew about how high the levels actually were during the first 12 hours is anyone's guess.  Also anyone who believed that chemical was non toxic is crazy. Vinyl Chloride, chorine is in the name obviously its hazardous.

This is part of why I would never buy a house closer then 1mile to a railroad.

There are a few chemicals I really don't like, and a few that scare the crap out of me. VCM is one I really don't like. VCM basically started OSHA's involvement in workplace chemical exposure.

As a former member of the local Emergency Mgt. I KNEW this was a potential mass-casualty event as soon as I heard about it over the NJ 101.5 radio.  I was dumb-founded to learn and hear of conflicting reports of white clouds moving across the water at the scene of the wreck, the proximity of houses to the event and the lack of evacuations.  Hell, the radio station was talking live to a guy who lives about 200-300 FEET away, and nobody even knocked on this guy's door to tell him to even shut his windows, so the radio hosts did! Those in-charge should be held for trial for gross negligence, since any First Responder can simply go to a 3-ring binder and look-up this chemical and its' effects.  Truly a SHAMEFUL example of poor leadership from the politicians on down!

From the web; Vinyl Chloride's MSDS sheet.

 

 

EMERGENCY OVERVIEW: Vinyl Chloride is a colorless, liquefied, toxic, flammable gas with a sweet, ethereal odor. 

Vinyl Chloride is a known human carcinogen and is toxic by all routes of exposure. Contact with the skin and eyes will 

result in irritation. Inhalation of Vinyl Chloride may produce symptoms of drowsiness, blurred vision, staggering gait and 

tingling and numbness in the extremities. Contact with the liquid may result in frostbite. Both the liquid and gas pose a 

serious fire hazard when accidentally released. Vinyl Chloride polymerizes readily when exposed to air, sunlight, heat or 

oxygen and so can form dangerous explosive air/gas mixtures. Flame or high temperature impinging on a localized area 

of the cylinder of Vinyl Chloride can cause the cylinder to rupture without activating the cylinder’s relief devices. Provide 

adequate fire protection during emergency response situations.

 

http://www.mesagas.com/images/Vinyl%20Chloride.pdf

As a former member of the local Emergency Mgt. I KNEW this was a potential mass-casualty event as soon as I heard about it over the NJ 101.5 radio.  I was dumb-founded to learn and hear of conflicting reports of white clouds moving across the water at the scene of the wreck, the proximity of houses to the event and the lack of evacuations.  Hell, the radio station was talking live to a guy who lives about 200-300 FEET away, and nobody even knocked on this guy's door to tell him to even shut his windows, so the radio hosts did! Those in-charge should be held for trial for gross negligence, since any First Responder can simply go to a 3-ring binder and look-up this chemical and its' effects.  Truly a SHAMEFUL example of poor leadership from the politicians on down!

 

Don't hold your breath. We've gotten to the point where anyone with any responsibility, who can hurt the gov't if they screw up, get "qualified immunity".

 

Totally absurd. Nobody is held responsible for their actions anymore.

 

Ooops, we screwed up, people died because we are stupid and incompetent, sorry.

 

Whether it's something like this or police kicking in the wrong door, because they didn't do their due diligence, shoot the family dogs or innocent residents and it's oops. Often with no "I'm sorry, we made a mistake.

Don't hold your breath. We've gotten to the point where anyone with any responsibility, who can hurt the gov't if they screw up, get "qualified immunity".

 

Totally absurd. Nobody is held responsible for their actions anymore.

 

Ooops, we screwed up, people died because we are stupid and incompetent, sorry.

 

Whether it's something like this or police kicking in the wrong door, because they didn't do their due diligence, shoot the family dogs or innocent residents and it's oops. Often with no "I'm sorry, we made a mistake.

 

That will never happen.  You would have to prove "gross negligence", which is nearly impossible.  About the only way you would get the local fire company on "gross negligence" is if you can prove they were throwing gasoline on the fire....

 

2A:62A-1.2 - Immunity from civil damages for firefighters at accident scenes

 

2A:62A-1.2  Immunity from civil damages for firefighters at accident scenes.1. A municipal, county or State firefighter, whether volunteer or paid, shall not be liable for any civil damages as a result of any acts or omissions undertaken in good faith in rendering care at the scene of an accident or emergency to any victim thereof, or in transporting any such victim to a hospital or other facility where treatment or care is to be rendered; provided, however, that nothing in this section shall exonerate a firefighter for gross negligence.

My friends live maybe 300 yards from the derailment and were never evacuated, they just left on their own. I lived in Paulsboro for 22 years and to be honest I live my life thinking it's not if I get cancer, it's what type I get. All my life there we weird smells of things being released in the air, you'd come out to find you car and property covered in weird drops of goo and be told "don't worry". It's just big business getting away with murder. The real sad part about all is the town doesn't really even see any tax breaks cause of it, the taxes are through the roof.

Chad you got that right. I grew up in Gibbstown

 

 

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Agree with you both, I never lived there but I haven't heard many positive things about Paulsboro.. except for Babes.

Babes is in Gibbstown

 

 

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Sorry I consider the two towns to be one, but you can call me an "outsider" since I live in West Deptford.

 

 

ETA: Just educated myself - Gibbstown is part of Greenwich it seems, but uses a Paulsboro mailing address?

No, gibbstown and Greenwich are the same town. Yet has 2 names. Paulsboro is the next town but they share a high school

Is Babe in the old Ames shopping center? If so that's Paulsboro, I don't care what anyone says. It's like the Heritage's that's on Broad street, they say it's the Gibbstown Heritages, but they're just trying to be fancy.

 

Paulsboro is horrible, whenever I go back it's always the same people standing around on the street doing nothing, just like they have for the last 15 years. It's like the place is frozen in time.

In the Ames parking lot is Nino's. babes is next to the gibbstown police station

That's right, it's an Italian joint now. It use to be a go go bar though right? Is Babes a strip club? I didn't think something like that would fly in Gibbstown.

Babes is just a corner bar owned by the Tortella's. Nino's was a strip club a long time ago. I will say Nino's is one of my favorite spots. Food and service are great. Deff beats any chain restaurant.

 

 

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