“The chemical company says following a comprehensive review, the root cause of the La Salle plant fire was a combination of events stemming from damaged packaging of Potassium Permanganate.
A release from the company says the potassium was being transported from the warehouse to a waiting truck and was damaged in transit by a forklift truck.
Workers cleaned up spilled material and moved the damaged packaging to a separate location.
As the damaged packaging of chemicals was being moved, friction caused by the forklift truck moving a support pallet likely ignited material underneath the pallet.”
Update: Illinois Fire Marshal Report and warehouse security footage.
Carus Chemicals is refusing to give the City of LaSalle the name of their insurance company after the fire and explosion that caused chemicals and heavy metals to rain on residents’ homes and yards.
In response to Sierra Club’s testing of furnace filters from residents’ homes, which revealed barium, lead, copper, zinc, mercury and other heavy metals in residents homes from the fire, Brownfield Engineering, the environmental consulting firm hired by the City of LaSalle, is recommending testing 24 furnace filters for more chemicals and metals at a cost of $80,000.
News Tribune Article, March 24, 2023:
Carus ‘refuses’ to name its insurance provider, La Salle city officials say, Olivia Doak.
““Because we work with several insurance providers and we wanted to avoid unnecessary confusion while streamlining the process, we worked with them to hire the Davies Group to facilitate all claims,” Carus said in a statement Friday….
“”I assume Carus, as a good partner of the city of La Salle, would’ve presented who’s insuring them. So, that’s an issue. It’s a huge issue to residents of the city of La Salle and an affront to a sitting alderman,” Alderman Bob Thompson said. …Without knowing who the insurance provider is, Thompson said, there’s no way to know whether the insurance adjusters coming to residents’ homes are associated with a state licensed insurance company. Thompson said he recommends that residents not to talk to anyone who comes to their door unless they show they’re representing a licensed company.
“Make sure you’re getting identification, make sure you’re getting credentials,” La Salle Mayor Jeff Grove said. … Grove said he and other city officials thought it was “unusual” that Carus didn’t disclose the name of its insurance provider.
Carus Chemicals company burst into flames on the edge of a residential neighborhood, and not one alarm can be heard.
Neighbors who saw the smoke and flames didn’t know what was happening.
One resident, Jamie Hicks, ran out of his house, got in his truck, and drove down the street to check on his neighbor whom he thought her house was on fire.
When he Jamie got out of his truck, a purple granular chemical fell from the sky and covered his entire body.
The chemical cloud forming above the fire in this video rained chemicals over three communities.
Samples of air filters taken from residents’ homes show barium, copper, lead, manganese, zinc and mercury.
Homes where chemicals landed are damaged from the oxidation of the chemicals and metals.
Paint is peeling, shingles are deteriorating, metal is rusting, and neighbors have been experiencing health problems that not exist before the fire.
Carus has not taken responsibility for cleanup since this event and has moved illegally stored chemicals out of the Apollo Warehouse to an old mall in Ottawa located near a residential neighborhood.
Do you think there should be alarms on chemical plants and tier 2 storage facilities in fence line communities to warn neighbors if a disaster occurs?
Illinois Fire Marshal Report & Secrutiy Footage inside the Carus warehouse:
LaSalle 4th Ward former alderman has produced a 3rd video with his thoughts about Carus Chemical and the City of LaSalle after the Carus Chemical explosion and chemical fire.
“My advice to the people running for office in LaSalle next month, it applies to newbies and currently sitting aldermen as well. People have taken note of who has taken up for the residents and who has not…this isn’t a topic you can sit out because it isn’t going away no matter how badly Carus wants it to.” – Mark Schneider
TONIGHT!!! Town Hall Meeting 6:30p, Monday, March 6 LaSalle City Hall 745 2nd St, LaSalle, IL
Sierra Club will present filter test results and discuss health effects of the metals and chemicals found in furnace filters and EPA samples.
Sierra Club has also announced they will test more filters. Help with cost is available.
This is a community issue that involves more than just LaSalle.
Emissions from Carus’ plumes are carried by the wind throughout LaSalle, Peru and surrounding rural areas. Chemicals from the explosion also landed on homes in Dimmick.
Chemicals manufactured at Carus are now being stored at the former South Towne Mall in Ottawa, and the waste from their plant is being taken to a landfill in Ottawa, which we believe is leaching toxic chemicals and heavy metals into the Illinois River.
The chemicals and metals the Sierra Club will discuss, and were present in the filters, are recorded in EPA reports as emissions coming from Carus’ plumes.
Mark Schneider, 4th Ward former alderman for LaSalle, Illinois, is speaking up about how Carus Chemical is not being a good community partner after their chemical manufacturing plant exploded and rained toxic chemicals onto the LaSalle neighborhood.
LaSalle resident, Jamie Hicks was interviewed on WLPO, Starved Rock News-Talk radio about the aftermath of the Carus Chemical disaster. Jamie was outside when the explosion happened, which caused chemicals to rain down on to a LaSalle neighborhood. Jamie’s body was covered in purple chemicals as was his home, truck and yard.
He says the city is not standing behind citizens and that he was escorted out of a news conference by the fire chief and police chief.
The WLPO interviewer then mentioned that LaSalle’s Mayor Jeff Grove was heard bragging about Carus at a recent luncheon, despite this incident.
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.
Test results obtained through FOIAs sent to the EPA reveled much more than what the City of LaSalle and Carus Chemical released.
Below is a list of chemicals and heavy metals from 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, the Senior Toxic Policy Advisor, and Hannah Lee Flath at the Sierra club.
THANK YOU, Sierra Club for your support and knowledge.
Protect Starved Rock and The Illinois Valley 