Carus-donated air monitor set up in Rotary Park in La Salle

The air monitor provided to the city of La Salle in July by Carus LLC is up and running at Rotary Park.

The monitor was donated in response to residents asking questions about emissions levels in the surrounding neighborhoods after the Jan. 11 chemical fire at the Carus chemical plant.

La Salle also has an air monitor at the public library at 305 Marquette St.

La Salle Alderman Joe Jeppson, who has taken the lead on the project, picked up the monitor in July and became aware that a part of the air monitor – the dongle – was defective.

“This has been a long process,” he said. “We’ve been working at this for six months now, and it feels good to be at the finish line.”

Carus paid for three years of Wi-Fi to allow public access to the air monitor through an online hosting service.

Deputy Clerk Brent Bader said residents will be able to view the Rotary Park monitor on the air visual app once it’s been approved by IQ air administrators.

“Part of the process is we have to take photos of the device,” he said, “send it to the IQ air administrators, which we have done, and they’re going to come back to us and let us know if any changes need to be made.”

Bader said that if residents download the air visual app, the La Salle Public Library’s air monitor already is discoverable. He is able to view the data from Rotary Park’s monitor.

“Obviously, we want to make sure we have a week’s worth of data to really get a feel for the environment,” Bader said. “They look for particular matter, and they go off the U.S. Air Quality Index.”

Bader said that as of 10:10 a.m. Thursday, the air quality index was at 19. According to the U.S. Air Quality Index, 0 to 50 is in the green, meaning air quality is satisfactory and air pollution poses little to no risk.

The air monitor was one of the requests from residents to Carus. After meeting with Aldermen Bob Thompson and Jordan Crane, Carus decided to donate an air monitor and set up a task force including residents, city officials and Carus administrators to come up with a plan in the event of another emergency.

“Carus has heard these concerns and wants to offer our neighbor’s further reassurance that emissions from our operations are not polluting the environment or the air around their homes by donating an air quality monitor to the city,” Richard Landtiser, vice president of innovation, technology, and environmental health and safety at Carus, said in a July news release.

Jeppson said the city plans to use visual aids and other screens to show residents how to download and use the app during an upcoming City Council meeting. The council meets again Monday, Nov. 13.