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 .
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
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:
Carus Chemical is the only producer of potassium permanganate and sodium permanganate in the Western Hemisphere.
This explains a lot about the lack of accountability, and the City of LaSalle bending over backwards and covering for Carus as residents became aware of illegally stored product in a crumbling building behind their homes.
Because of its unique geology and minerals, La Salle County, Illinois, has become a center for resource extraction and chemical manufacturing.
LaSalle 4th Ward former alderman Mark Schneider gives his thoughts on the Sierra Club‘s presentation at the LaSalle City Council meeting on Monday, March 6
“Now that we have test results, not only do these air filters to show all these heavy metals, we have soil test results from a yard that was cleaned up in the EPA Superfund cleanup, and now with soil testing has shown that it has actually a higher heavy metal contents than it did prior to the superfund cleanup.”
LaSalle City Council got grim numbers about the Carus Chemical fire Monday night. At Mayor Jeff Grove’s invitation, the Sierra Club‘s MIla Kellen Marshall P.hD and Denise Trabbic-Pointer spoke to the Council about testing done immediately after the January 11th fire. Speaking by phone from Michigan, Trabbic-Pointer said particulate matter was sampled for about 19 hours after the blaze.
This dust is so fine, she said, it gets into the deepest parts of the lungs. More troubling said Trabbic-Pointer, were results showing levels 12 points above the 24-hour regulatory limit. Later, an examination of eight furnace filters taken from affected homes showed the presence of the metals Barium, Copper, Lead, Manganese and Zinc. Alderman Jim Bacidore asked Trabbic-Pointer is it safe outside for kids and pets:
For almost two hours, residents whose property took the brunt of the chemical laden smoke, took more shots at Carus and sometimes the city. The question of legal action against Carus was discussed. City Attorney Jim McPhedran said it’s something that’s costly and a deeply involved process. Carus Chemical officials continue to duck City Council meetings.
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.
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
Below are Safety Data Sheets (SDS) for chemicals manufactured and stored at Carus Chemical’s plant in LaSalle, Illinois, and stored at the former South Towne Mall, now known as Lotz Storage, in Ottawa, Illinois.
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.
We are working with Sierra Club to test furnace/air filters & soil for contaminants from the chemical fire & Carus’ plumes.
Contact Jamie Hicks 815-252-4417 for information.
Sierra Club Illinois will be present at the LaSalle City Council meeting on Monday, March 6th to discuss these chemicals, health effects and results of previous air filter tests.
Please attend if you’re available.
City Hall Meeting
City of LaSalle Building
745 2nd St, LaSalle, IL
Monday, March 6, 2023, 6:30pm
Below is a list of contaminants w/ health effects that were found in the last round of testing. Check out our blog for more information about EPA & Sierra Club testing. https://protectstarvedrock.wordpress.com/…/epa-test…/
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Barium compounds (except for barium sulfate (CAS No. 7727-43-7))
Cardiovascular: Referring to the heart and blood vessels. Effects may include arrhythmia, changes in blood pressure, heart failure and/or disorders of the peripheral blood vessels.
Renal: Referring to the kidneys. Effects may include decreased filtering capacity/ efficiency, blood in the urine and/or increased/decreased blood pressure.
Mercury compounds
Developmental: Referring to growth, differentiation and maturation. Effects may occur from conception through sexual maturation, and may include altered growth, structural abnormalities and/or functional deficiencies.
Neurological: Referring to the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. Effects may include impaired sensory and motor signaling.
Other Systemic: Effects not otherwise categorized.
Renal: Referring to the kidneys. Effects may include decreased filtering capacity/ efficiency, blood in the urine and/or increased/decreased blood pressure.
Lead compounds
Cancer: Probable human carcinogen based on sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in animals only applies to inorganic lead compounds
Cardiovascular: Referring to the heart and blood vessels. Effects may include arrhythmia, changes in blood pressure, heart failure and/or disorders of the peripheral blood vessels.
Developmental: Referring to growth, differentiation and maturation. Effects may occur from conception through sexual maturation, and may include altered growth, structural abnormalities and/or functional deficiencies.
Hematological: Referring to the blood. Effects may include alterations of blood composition, clotting and/or the production and function of blood cells, e.g., red blood cell production within bone marrow, red blood cell ability to carry oxygen.
Neurological: Referring to the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. Effects may include impaired sensory and motor signaling.
Copper compounds
Gastrointestinal : Referring to all parts of the digestive tract. Effects may include inflammation, ulcers, reflux and/or vomiting.
Respiratory: Referring to the exchange of oxygen for carbon dioxide. Effects may include inflammation of the lungs or associated airways, increased/decreased breathing rate, insufficient oxygen-carbon dioxide exchange and/or respiratory failure.
On January 11, 2023, the Carus Chemical manufacturing plant in LaSalle, Illinois had an explosion & started on fire. Chemicals rained down onto the neighborhood and damaged homes and cars.
Jamie Hicks and other residents have been complaining since 2017 to the City of LaSalle and Carus about the building behind their homes and semi-truck traffic on their dead-end road.
Despite many complaints and asking what the building was used for, they were never told there was a tier 2 chemical storage facility in the crumbling building in their backyards. After the fire, residents demanded answers.
The City of LaSalle has been more concerned with the chemical company’s ability to reach its illegally stored product than it is about the neighbors who are being put in harms way by the chemical company.
Below are police reports involving Carus Chemical, along with a video taken by Jamie Hicks showing what happened. Jamie’s video and comments conflicts with the reports written by the officers.
Our request for body cam footage from the officers who were at the scene was denied. We have also requested body cam footage showing what is in the building, but were denied.
The below photos are of chemicals that came out of the Apollo building, located behind Jamie’s home, being unloaded at the South Towne Mall in Ottawa, Illinois, Carus’ new tier 2 chemical storage facility. As of March 3, thirteen truckloads have been transported out of the Apollo building behind his home.
Protect Starved Rock and The Illinois Valley 
