Carus Chemical says it will remove materials from La Salle warehouse within 2 weeks

Carus Chemical said it will remove all materials from a warehouse north of Porter Avenue and east of Zinc Street in La Salle within the next two weeks, after a resident raised concerns about what was being stored there.

While residents asked questions Tuesday about their health and safety since the Jan. 11 Carus Chemical fire, the warehouse operated by Carus also was a topic of discussion during the City Council meeting. The warehouse was not involved in the Jan. 11 fire.

Mayor Jeff Grove told about 30 people in attendance Carus informed him in a letter dated Tuesday the company was removing all materials from the facility, including chemicals.

“This decision was made following concerns from the community and we expect to finalize these efforts within the next two weeks,” wrote Lyndsay Bliss, vice president of Human Resources and Communications at Carus. “We will notify (Grove) when that has been completed.”

Lyndsay Bliss, vice president of human resources at Carus, said on Wednesday that Carus will continue to work with the city of La Salle, the Environmental Protection Agency, Illinois EPA, the La Salle County Health Department and other regulatory agencies regarding safety.

“It’s important to note that this facility has only been used to house machinery, equipment and nonhazardous materials, in accordance with regulatory guidelines and safety standards,” Borden said. “While there was a miscommunication, it was immediately corrected, and we continue to work with the city of La Salle to ensure transparency and focus on supporting the La Salle-Peru community.”

Porter Avenue resident Jamie Hicks has been critical of the truck traffic along the street and the security issues at the building, and has asked what is being stored at the facility. He voiced his displeasure over learning the warehouse had a designation as a Tier 2 chemical storage facility, which was confirmed by La Salle Fire Chief Jerry Janick on Tuesday.

According to an email exchange acquired in a Freedom of Information Act request, Finance Director John Duncan asked Carus in an email Jan. 23, on Hicks’ behalf, what specifically is being stored at the warehouse location, because “he wants to make sure steps are being taken to prevent any issues with what is being stored at that location.”

Duncan added within the email: “He believes that area should be secured. He indicated there is a paddle lock gate in that location,” however, “the gate is continuously ‘dummy locked.’”

In an email dated Jan. 23, JoLynn Anzelc, formerly of Carus, wrote in reply: “The property is used for storage, primarily old machine parts and scrap metal. To the best of my knowledge, the warehouse is nearly empty and there are no chemicals stored onsite at this location.”

The next day Anzelc sent an email to Deputy Clerk Brent Bader, she was glad she caught him before he met with Hicks. She wrote Carus secured a new warehouse in Ottawa. All new raw materials are being sent to Ottawa, but she said some of her team (including herself) were under the impression the raw material supplies had been depleted at the Porter Avenue warehouse.

“We were mistaken, but there is limited material left,” she wrote. “The materials are non-hazardous and non-flammable. We are in compliance with the storage and transportation of the materials.”

Anzelc continued to write Carus delayed accessing the Porter Avenue warehouse as long as possible after the fire, but needed to access the last remaining supply of raw materials for phosphates production, which was up and running at the time of the Jan. 24 email.

“As discussed, there are four truckloads of raw materials left and our plan is to remove this by the end of the week provided we can access the property with no disruptions,” Anzelc wrote in the email.

Anzelc said there were still some non-hazardous, non-flammable raw materials in this storage facility. She said they were used infrequently and will result in limited truck traffic.

Prior to meeting with Hicks, Bader was informed what he was told wasn’t accurate. He replied to Carus in an email: “Do you have time (Jan. 25) to follow-up on this? ... Mayor Grove is upset the city was given inaccurate information to share with residents which has setback our communications with them.”

In a Jan. 26 email, Bliss, of Carus, wrote to Duncan and Bader that Carus would never intentionally lie to the city.

“We are very sorry,” she wrote.

Bliss wrote Carus will require at least three sets of eyes on anything that is sent to the city and that it would be happy to provide updates, on request, based on the annual Tier II Emergency and Hazardous Chemical Inventory annual report, which she said the city receives every March.

“The report lists all of the chemicals we have in the warehouse, and because we have more product around based on a plant’s availability, there are change throughout the year,” Bliss said.

Grove said the warehouse issue should be resolved when Carus removes all its materials. He said he was disappointed Carus didn’t provide accurate information at a critical time, but he is encouraged the company is clearing out the warehouse.

“We pride ourselves on providing accurate information to our residents,” Grove said.