Carus hears 2nd round of concerns from residents

La Salle, and even some Ottawa, residents shared another round of questions and concerns Wednesday during Carus LLC’s second public meeting since the Jan. 11 fire.

Since its first public meeting May 10, Carus has bought an air monitor and donated it to the city of La Salle, emptied a warehouse on Porter Avenue that once housed chemicals, announced a reimbursement of $2,500 for homeowners who paid their own deductible on damages from the fire, met face-to-face with several residents, reimbursed all local fire departments for damaged equipment and agreed to participate in a task force with residents and city officials to devise an emergency response plan for the surrounding neighborhood.

An Ottawa resident, who didn’t identify herself during the meeting, acknowledged Carus is moving forward with participation to devise an emergency response plan in La Salle, but asked if there was anything in the works for Ottawa.

Even before the Porter Avenue warehouse – which was not part of the Jan. 11 fire – was decommissioned, Carus had been trucking chemicals to a facility operated by Lotz Logistics in South Towne Mall in Ottawa. The South Towne Mall houses a state office and business, with a sports complex, homes, senior living and schools nearby.

Allen Gibbs, vice president of operations at Carus, said the Ottawa warehouse stores hundreds of pounds of potassium permanganate, along with phosphates, catalysts and sodium permanganate. Potassium permanganate was the chemical Carus said led to the Jan. 11 fire, after a “freak occurrence,” CEO Andy Johnston said.

The Ottawa resident asked if Carus has an emergency plan in place for the Ottawa warehouse, because she works nearby and has not seen one.

Johnston said after the meeting, there is a safety plan in place for the warehouse itself. He said Ottawa emergency officials have toured the facility, but he said Ottawa officials would be best to speak about a plan for the surrounding area, noting Carus is not familiar with one. He said Carus uses Lotz Logistics to handle the shipment and storage of the chemicals.

At another portion of the meeting, Richard Landtiser, vice president of innovation and technology, said potassium permanganate is considered explosive and dangerous, but only if it is mishandled. He said Carus and its contractors are trained to handle it safely, and what occurred Jan. 11 was an accident.

The resident said she would like to see safety plans distributed to nearby residences and businesses, in the event of an emergency. In the aftermath of the Jan. 11 fire, La Salle residents said there was confusion as to what to do and how to handle the green and brown substances that fell on properties. Johnston said after the meeting he wishes Carus would have gone door-to-door to check in with residents and answer any of their immediate questions.

Lisa Dyas, of La Salle, said she believes there still are residents near the Carus plant who are not aware of all of the company’s announcements. She said most of the announcements are made on social media and not everyone is online or on social media. She suggested the company send mail to the neighborhood to keep those residents informed. Johnston was responsive to that suggestion.

Questions also arose about what happened to Dyas’ plastic chair in the aftermath of the fire. She showed Carus leaders a cellphone photo of the hole in the chair immediately taken after the fire. She said the photo received national news coverage, even garnering a response from a relative in Arizona. Landtiser said potassium permanganate breaks down into potassium manganate and should not cause damage to plastic. He believes the chair damage would not have been caused by the fire, but Dyas said there is nothing else in that short of time that could have caused the damage, questioning if there was more in the air.

Dawn Hicks, of La Salle, said she believes Carus still has work to do in how it informs the public and answers questions. While Carus has taken responsive action, such as shutting down the Porter Avenue warehouse, she said Gibbs was selective in his answer about whether a safety response plan was in place. Gibbs answered yes during the first meeting to a community safety plan being created, but he said Wednesday that answer was a yes to whether Carus had a safety plan for its own plant.

Hicks said those kinds of answers have led to some of the mistrust from residents and asked Carus to be more direct in the future. Several people in the crowd of about 75 people applauded Jamie Hicks and Marty Schneider on Wednesday for keeping the Carus issue in the public eye through comments at La Salle City Council meetings, on social media and with protests at the company’s headquarters, after their efforts were noted during public comment.

Johnston said Carus is committed to transparency moving forward, saying the company has hosted the two public meetings because it has learned from residents about their concerns and led to action. He said he wasn’t sure yet if a third meeting would be scheduled.

The company distributed a book of frequently asked questions, pertaining to insurance, emergency planning and operations, the warehouse and environmental testing. Many of the questions were specifically addressed in the first meeting, said Lyndsay Bliss, vice president of human resources for Carus. More information can be found at https://www.carusllc.com.

Chryss Crockett said 58% of the fire damage claims received have been settled. She said offers have been extended to 12% of residents, offers rejected by 9% and claims denied for 4%. She also said 17% of claims remain active. When asked by Jamie Hicks why the total number has gone up and down, Crockett said new claims have been made since the last meeting and some were found to be duplicates, causing the numbers to change.

Anyone with concerns or questions can call Carus at 815-224-6662 to speak with a member of its leadership team.