(The following story by Leah McDonald appeared on the Oneida Daily Dispatch website on March 18.)
ONEIDA, N.Y. — Police were called to the CSX outreach center at the Red Cross offices on Washington Avenue Friday morning to help with disgruntled residents seeking reimbursement from Monday’s train derailment.
“We had to because some of the people going for the $100 got very irate, so we had to put two policemen there to keep the crowd under control,” said Mayor Leo Matzke.
“As I understand it, the original maps were-the parameters were wrong,” said Susan Tonra, executive director of the Madison-Oneida Chapter of the American Red Cross. “It was supposed to be a half mile.”
Gary Sease, CSX spokesperson, said the affected area has always been a one–mile radius from the derailments.
“There was some confusion over the zone that we were compensating people,” he said. “Someone published a map, I think, showing three miles, so some people came to our outreach center to receive the $100 and they were not eligible.”
The confusion left several residents upset, including Jill Myers, who said her 80-year-old mother was told to leave her Phillips Street home by state police on Monday.
“I don’t care about the money,” she said. “My mother was displaced. Why were some paid and some not?”
Tonra said that many of the people who got upset misdirected their anger toward Red Cross volunteers, who had no control over who receives money from CSX.
“We are working in partnership with CSX, but all decision-making for what happens is at the discretion of CSX,” Tonra said.
Mark Munez, of Sayles Street, said he was told he was ineligible for the reimbursement.
“They said that CSX changed the circumference route and that we didn’t fall in there since the other day,” he said. “I was like, well, they came and told me to leave and I said I was in the area.”
Matzke said that, in some cases, the Madison County Sheriff’s Department evacuated people outside the original mile-wide radius, which was confusing.
“I’m not sure why,” he said, noting that by early morning the city had already closed down east of Main Street and north of Lenox Avenue. “For some reason, some people went to help people evacuate way over outside that area. That’s one of those things we need to tighten up.”
Tonra said that those who could prove they were told to leave their homes by getting a written note from the police station may be eligible for reimbursement.
Sease said that CSX so far has handed out about 700 checks-either to those receiving a $100 reimbursement or to the families directly affected by the accident who returned home Thursday. The only stipulation to receiving a check, he said, was that people needed to have identification and proof of address.
To contact CSX, call 1-877-TELL-CSX (1-877-835-5279).