VERNON TOWNSHIP -- More than 30 displaced Vernon Township-area residents waited for the ok to return to their homes following an evacuation ordered in the aftermath of Thursday night’s train derailment. 

Authorities allowed them to go home between noon and 2pm Friday, but escorted one family at a time as Environmental Protection Agency crews tested water and air in and around homes for possible contamination. 

Nearly eight Canadian National railway cars derailed, with one leaking hydrochloric acid into the surrounding area. 

“It’s an inhalant so if you come in contact with it, it could burn lungs and in a matter of a few hours you could die from it,” said Vernon Township Fire Chief Dan Bannister.  Response crews ordered an evacuation spanning a ½ mile radius around the spill. No cause has been determined.