The Sierra Club has been a wonderful resource for the community as we navigate through the fallout of the Carus Chemical disaster.
As Hannah and Sonya wrote in the below article, what happened that day was straight out of a disaster movie – a chemical cloud covered the sky and rained down on the City of LaSalle, Illinois.
Residents who live closest to the chemical plant had the most fallout.
Emails obtained through FOIA revealed that Carus Chemical instructed the City how to handle the situation and when to inform residents as the events unfolded that day.
Residents were not made aware of the situation until approximately 45 minutes after the explosion of chemicals and the fire broke out.
They were told to shelter in place and not evacuate the area as toxic smoke filled the air.
Despite having a chemical plant next to a residential neighborhood, there was not a hazmat plan in place.
Brownfield, the company the City of LaSalle hired to perform tests to determine cleanup efforts, did not test for the full spectrum of chemicals and metals and released only partial results at the LaSalle city council meeting last Monday, February 6, 2023.
Thankfully, one LaSalle resident, Jamie Hicks, who lives in the neighborhood hit hardest, was not accepting their explanations or results.
EPA test results obtained through FOIA reveled much more than what the City of LaSalle and Carus Chemical released.
Below is a list of chemicals and heavy metals found in samples taken by the EPA that were tested and had levels beyond what the EPA considers acceptable.
These chemicals and metals are in peoples’ yards, where their pets and children play, on their homes, decks, and in their pools and garden beds.
Some residents were outside when the cloud of toxins passed over.
As chemicals and ash rained down from the sky, their bodies were covered in it.
The Sierra Club has been incredibly helpful with helping us understand what this means.
Below is an article published by Sonya Lunder, Senior Toxic Policy Advisor, and Hannah Lee Flath at the Sierra club.
THANK YOU, Sierra Club for your support and knowledge.
2-Butanone (MEK)
Acetone
Aluminum
Antimony
Arsenic
Barium
Boron
Cadmium
Chromium
Cobalt
Copper
Cyanide
Lead
Magnesium
Manganese
Mercury
Nickel
Potassium
Selenium
Sodium
Strontium
Thallium
Vanadium
Zinc
#rural#ruralamerica#contamination#cancercluster#Illinois#ResourceCurse
Read: Toxic Ash Is Raining Down in Illinois. It’s Time for the EPA to Step Up: The nation’s environmental watchdog needs to enact the strongest possible protections for workers and fenceline communities. By Hannah Lee Flath and Sonya Lunder at the Sierra Club:
Link to Sierra Club Article: https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/toxic-ash-raining-down-illinois-it-s-time-epa-step?fbclid=IwAR2Ym6AibmnbrRCiFslT99Ps6qKRmAEEVZ7BnP-8agqAat3VMBMpb5gvqXc
EPA test results: https://protectstarvedrock.wordpress.com/2023/02/16/epa-test-results-sierra-club-analysis/
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