the Ohio train derailment is reigniting fears here in New Jersey two weeks after a train carrying hazardous materials and toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine Ohio residents there are reporting a growing number of health problems from rashes and nausea to difficulty breathing and they're becoming more convinced those symptoms are linked to the toxic Vinyl chloride released when the freight train crashed that's despite reports from Federal Environmental officials that no dangerous levels of the contaminants are being detected but the federal government is sending medical experts to open a health clinic there tomorrow at noon people in the area can get health screenings and hopefully medical questions answered Advocates who lived through the Paulsboro New Jersey trained derailment of 2012 that spilled the same toxic chemicals say they know those fears well and they're mounting new calls to action to prevent it from happening again senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports immediately I was thinking these poor people because I know what's coming their way as Pat Schubert watched First Responders in Ohio struggling to respond after this month's train derailment containing tank cars of toxic Vinyl chloride it triggered his memories of Paul's Borough a decade ago a Conrail Train derailed on a swing bridge in the South Jersey Town plunging four tank cars of vinyl chloride into Mantua Creek one tank car cracked sending up a hazardous chemical vapor Cloud that lingered over the neighborhood where Schubert lived he recalls I could still see the fog this is like 9 30 in the morning about two hours in plus after the wreck and I have friends that were out there on the first responder Team without the proper equipment they needed trying to help do whatever they could it was just a disaster this high dose of vinyl chloride was released and the people the First Responders didn't have the information they need to to to mount a proper response Tracy Carluccio's with the Delaware River Keeper and her office was just 13 miles away from the Paulsboro wreck she says a national Transportation safety board report stated this accident at Paulsboro stands out however because of the poorly executed emergency response it lists failures including how The Incident Commander botched Hazmat protocols and conrail's initial refusal to provide crucial information about dangerous chemicals aboard the train air monitoring arrived late and showed levels a thousand times over safety limits they did the best they could but they were not properly prepared and this is a problem that we have across our entire nation we're not preparing our emergency responders we're not giving equipment that's needed the NTSB recommended federal regulations to require train Crews to immediately provide the emergency response information for all hazardous materials on the train to federal state or local emergency response officials and assist with development of Emergency Operations and response plans but many reforms including a safer rail braking system got rescinded during the Trump Administration since 2015 110 derailments Nationwide have resulted in the release of hazardous materials it's really important that we have a contingency plan in effect assemblywoman Ellen Parks picked up the bill Champion by retired Senator Loretta Weinberg she demanded tougher railroad safety rules for oil trains traveling through densely populated New Jersey towns after the horrific derailment and explosion that killed 47 people in back Canada the bill set safety standards for railroads you know who to reach out to whether to evacuate we also need to know what was on the train um that was hazardous right and you know like it doesn't have to be a 10 car explosion it could be just one car that leaked in hazardous material in 2014 New Jersey's Department of Health surveyed folks in Paulsboro and found more than half experienced symptoms showing acute exposure to high levels of vinyl chloride Dr Julianne Bayer says health impact depends on length and intensity of exposure Vinyl chloride generally with prolonged exposure the concern is always cancer liver cancer mainly but also lung cancer brain leukemia but cancer can take years to show up attorney Mark cooker sued Conrail on behalf of a couple thousand Paulsboro residents almost all settled out of court some accepted Conrail checks for 500 bucks immediately after the wreck but gave up their right to sue for more cougar says it's all about avoiding liability people were not told the truth then they weren't told the truth about how serious it was and how dangerous it was the Ohio derailment remains under investigation but transportation secretary Pete butterjudge sent Norfolk Southern a stinging letter blaming the rail industry for lobbying against safety upgrades while pocketing billions in profits he promised stiffer fines and regulations the railroad says it's reviewing the letter meanwhile this could happen in your town it could happen in some far off Town in the middle of the country at any moment Schubert settled with Conrail he moved his family out of Paulsboro and away from Rail lines I'm Brenda Flanagan NJ Spotlight News