Is Toxic Wastewater From Carus Chemicals Manufacturing Plant in LaSalle, Illinois, Contaminating the Vermillion River & Ending Up In The Gulf of Mexico?

Posted on by Protect Starved Rock and the Illinois Valley

How much toxic waste from the Carus Chemical plant in La Salle, Illinois, ends up in the Vermillion River, pictured in these photographs, right next to Carus’ wastewater lagoons?

The Vermillion empties into the Illinois River just a few miles from Carus Chemicals’ LaSalle manufacturing plant. The Illinois River empties into the Mississippi River.

The Mississippi River empties into the Gulf of Mexico .

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), there is a 6,334 square mile dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, an area of low oxygen which kills marine life. https://oceantoday.noaa.gov/deadzonegulf-2021/welcome.html#:~:text=The%202021%20Gulf%20of%20Mexico,over%20the%20past%20five%20years.

Agriculture chemical runoff has been blamed for this dead zone, but have chemical factories, industrial polluters and mines along rivers that connect to the Mississippi River been taken into consideration or studied for their contribution to the dead zone?

The effects of Carus Chemicals’ actions have consequences far beyond LaSalle.

Chemical Wastewater Pipe Discharging into the Vermillion River from Carus Chemical

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Careless Carus Chemical had another Spill

Posted on by Protect Starved Rock and the Illinois Valley

    March 6, 2023

    Less than eight weeks after the Carus Chemical fire and chemical plant explosion in LaSalle, Illinois, Carus had another chemical spill.

    The purple chemical on the road, near the end of the video, is one of several chemicals that fell onto peoples’ homes, cars, and yards in January from a chemical cloud that formed during the explosion and fire at Carus.

    This same purple chemicals is being released by the factory in LaSalle into the Little Vermilion River. The Little Vermillion empties into the Illinois River.

    Carus also owns a landfill along the Illinois River, which is believed to be leaching toxic chemicals and heavy metals into the river.

    The Illinois River empties into the Mississippi River, then into Gulf of Mexico, where there is a 6,334 square mile dead zone. NOAA: https://oceantoday.noaa.gov/deadzonegulf-2021/welcome.html?fbclid=IwAR0_i58Gde813KEsDG2DSrdMxmWv3qwp_IGbDMl8WKUqz3f-rxIBb-FDTMI#:~:text=The%202021%20Gulf%20of%20Mexico,over%20the%20past%20five%20years

    Farmers have been blamed for the Gulf dead zone.

    How much do Carus Chemical and other polluters contribute to this dead zone?

    Carus is one of many polluters, which include manufacturers and mining companies that release toxic waste into the Illinois River near La Salle, Illinois.

    The building in the video that resembles the Adams’ Family home is the Hegeler Carus Mansion, built in 1876 and considered “one of the Midwest’s great Second Empire structures,” according to the website. https://lnkd.in/gqdbyHBE

    To learn more about Carus Chemical and industrial and mining pollution in the Illinois Valley. Visit our blog: https://lnkd.in/gNsx3BHq

    Photos by: Marty Schneider