(The following story by Kimm R. Montone appeared on the Scranton Times website on October 11.)
SCRANTON, Pa. — When Patti Whyte learned railroad company officials were meeting with the North Scranton Vikings president Wednesday, she made it a point to be there.
She had hoped to learn what caused her daughter and 31 other youth cheerleaders to become sick after they inhaled an ammonia-like odor on their practice field two days earlier.
“It’s not the train, it’s not that … then what was it?” she asked after meeting privately with officials from the Norfolk Southern Railroad.
Rail company representatives reinforced earlier statements, saying a train hauling anhydrous ammonia that passed through the area Monday was inspected several times with the same results: there was no leak.
“Things haven’t changed. We found out yesterday our train wasn’t the problem,” said Rudy Husband, a company spokesman, adding that the tankers hauling the anhydrous ammonia do not vent fumes and the cars were inspected by several railroad companies and officials.
According to eyewitness accounts and local authorities, the girls, ages 9 to 13, were practicing for a competition when some girls at the southern end of the field began complaining about an odor and started to experience breathing difficulties.
Other girls were also affected, but to a lesser extent. The smell dissipated and air monitoring equipment later failed to detect any traces of the mysterious odor. In all, 34 people were treated at four local hospitals and released.
On Tuesday, county and city officials said they had few leads and that there was not much to investigate.
“I think it’s a done deal,” said Scranton fire Chief Tom Davis on Wednesday. “We’ll keep our eyes on things.”
In the meantime, parents still wonder about the odor’s origin, and whether it will happen again.
“I’m not totally happy, but I believe the railroad,” said league president Dave Maconeghy. “I still want to know where it came from.”