Evacuees Look for End to Uncertainty : Seacliff Colony: About 300 displaced people do not know when they can return home or who will pay for their lodging.

Seacliff Colony residents who were evacuated from their beachfront homes four days ago were looking for answers Wednesday--answers to questions about their belongings, their expenses and the safety of the homes they left behind.

Norine Fine, who was staying in a Ventura motel with her husband and golden retriever, said she asked Southern Pacific to monitor her home for residues of the toxic chemical that spilled when a freight train derailed on Sunday less than a mile away.

“The train going off the track by our house was scary,” she said. “But the most frightening thing is the possible long-term effects of exposure to those chemicals.”

Another resident complained that Sheriff’s Department deputies were rude to him when they told him to leave the home that he rents on the beach, putting him out at 2 a.m. and forcing him to walk the eight miles to Ventura.

“I said, ‘What am I supposed to do?’ and they said, ‘Start walking,’ ” said Scott Starr, a 29-year-old free-lance photographer. “They wouldn’t let me get money or clothes or anything. I just grabbed these hug boots on the way out.”

He pointed to a pair of soft-soled sheepskin boots that surfers wear after they get out of the water.

Fine and Starr were among about 300 Seacliff residents and Rincon area campers who were evacuated Sunday after eight drums containing 440 gallons of toxic aqueous hydrazine spilled onto the ground near the Southern Pacific tracks.

They complained of a lack of information from officials on when they would be able to go back to their homes to gather belongings or to permanently return.

Southern Pacific officials said they had accepted about 35 claims for reimbursements by Wednesday at their temporary claims office in Ventura. Fine, the community outreach director for the Schick Shadel Hospital in Santa Barbara, asked Southern Pacific for reimbursement for motel, clothes and food bills, loss of income as well as for funds to have her home monitored for toxic residues.

“I just don’t feel comfortable going back into a place that I have been refused entry to for the last three days,” she said. “I want something in writing that says they’ve tested it and it’s safe.”

Mike Furtney, a Southern Pacific spokesman, said Fine’s claim would be considered. But, he said, information from the chemical manufacturer indicates that she has no reason to fear that her home has been contaminated.

“It was just a precaution that these people were evacuated,” Furtney said. “We can’t just run off and test every house.”

Terrence Gilday, a manager at the Ventura County Environmental Health Department, said Wednesday that the county believes that the homes are safe.

“The reason the residents are not in the homes now is the possibility of further releases during the cleanup,” Gilday said. “This is an airborne contaminant that could harm people if they had contact with it. But once it’s passed, it’s gone.”

Gilday said the chemical breaks down very quickly in the air and on the ground.

“This is borne out by the fact that even at the site itself where the liquid spilled, we can’t find any contaminant,” he said.

Starr’s concerns were less long-term. He was eager to retrieve his photographic equipment so that he could shoot a pair of skateboard and Frisbee contests in the Bay Area.

“All I want is my phone numbers and my camera gear,” he said. Starr said he was not home when the officers first evacuated the area. He got home late Sunday night and was shocked to find sheriff’s deputies beating on his door.

“Cops just don’t like me because I have long hair,” he said. “But I don’t want to stir up any trouble because I do appreciate them doing their jobs, looking for people and keeping out any looters.”

Sheriff’s Lt. Dick Diaz said all the deputies have been instructed during daily briefings to be courteous to the residents.

“Even though maybe we’re tired, we need to understand their trauma and that these people have been through a lot,” he said.

Jim Moynahan, who runs a food concession at Hobson Park, the headquarters for crews from the railroad, fire and sheriff’s departments, complained about a loss of income since Sunday.

“It’s tough to compete with the prices of the other concessions around here,” he said, referring to the barbecue dinner that Southern Pacific was providing at no charge for all workers and media representatives at the wreck.

“I’ll be reimbursed for it,” he said, “or they’ll hear from an attorney.”

Southern Pacific and county officials said they kept no records of where Seacliff Colony residents are staying but that they believe some have taken rooms at local hotels.

The railroad assured evacuated residents that the company will cover any reasonable expenses.

“They just have to establish that they were a resident of the area,” he said.