We are about 25 miles WNW of Apex. To my knowledge, no NC 'catters live in the at-risk area. The immediate hazard appears to be to those located quite near the hazardous waste storage facility. Rain is helping knock the chlorine out of the atmosphere and the wind is south--bad for those south of Apex, but away from the major population centers of Raleigh, Cary and Durham. The chlorine disolves in the rain, which then falls as acid rain. The major issue right now is no one knows what was stored there besides chlorine. The concern is there are hazardous organic compounds that may burn or be dispersed that are much more toxic than chlorine in much smaller quantities. While this may turn into a major envirnmental mess, at this point, the authorities do not have sufficient information about what hazardous wastes were stored,and in what quantites, to be able to access anything other than the immediate danger from the chlorine gas.

Re chlorine gas--when I was in high school there was a big chlorine gas leak at a local chemical plant that led to the evacuation of a good part of the Kanawha Valley (Charleston, WV and environs.) We lived 30 miles downriver from the leak and were in a voluntary evacuation zone. Even that far away, the smell of the chlorine was almost overpowering. Livestock nearer the leak were killed and many people were sickened. I don't recall that any humans died.

Janie