La Salle residents react to Carus meeting announcement

La Salle residents who attended the City Council meeting Monday shared some skepticism about Carus LLC hours after the company announced it would have a public meeting Wednesday, May 10, to answer their questions.

Residents have been calling for Carus to meet with them, but they questioned the format.

Carus scheduled the meeting for 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Matthiessen Memorial Auditorium at La Salle-Peru High School, 541 Chartres St. The company said in a Monday news release the format will give residents an opportunity to raise concerns and ask questions to company leadership in regard to recovery and community support efforts. Carus is encouraging residents to submit questions ahead of the town hall at carusllc.com/questions and fill out an online form. WCMY radio host Jay LeSeure will serve as the moderator.

La Salle resident Jamie Hicks said he doesn’t agree to those terms. Resident Patricia Walters said the meeting would be better served to have panels with representatives from Carus, the community, the Sierra Club, governmental agencies and the city, and allow for each panel to address their concerns. Resident Marty Schneider said he was concerned Carus will choose the questions it wants to answer, or prepare soft answers without an opportunity for followup questions.

Residents have been clear the past few City Council meetings. They want more environmental testing of soil, surfaces and air quality to determine the impact of the fire in the community, they want paid for damages from the materials that fell on their property in the fire’s aftermath, they want the air quality to be monitored moving forward and they want Carus and other agencies to develop a safety plan.

In past responses to the public’s call for testing, Carus has reiterated what the Environmental Protection Agency, the Illinois Protection Agency and Illinois Department of Public Health have said, which is that no further environmental testing is needed, but residents as well as the Sierra Club, an environmental advocacy group, have questioned the hastiness and procedure of the testing. Residents have found heavy metals from independent tests of furnace filters, soil and other areas.

Residents also have raised more concerns about health issues, questioning if infections, rashes and other suspicious health issues are linked to the environment in the aftermath of the fire.

La Salle Mayor Jeff Grove said he was going to attend the May 10 meeting. Aldermen Jordan Crane and Bob Thompson also will be in attendance.

“This is a great first step in allowing the residents affected by the fire an opportunity to hear more from Carus, first hand, and hopefully, for the residents to be able to ask the questions they have,” Grove said prior to Monday’s meeting.

Resident Lisa Dyas said she hopes as many people as possible show up May 10, even if they don’t plan to speak, as a way to show support for their fellow residents.

“Show us you care,” Dyas said. “Put the pressure on (Carus) to answer our questions and hear our concerns.”

This will be the first of a series of community town hall meetings, with additional town halls to be conducted in the coming months, the company said in a news release prior to Monday’s meeting. Details on those meetings will be provided at a later date, according to the company.

“We look forward to coming together with residents and community leaders in a positive way to provide updates, hear their concerns, and have a constructive and positive discussion about moving forward as a community,” said Andy Johnston, president and CEO of Carus LLC.

Also at Monday’s meeting Hicks questioned the cause of the fire, and who knew what occurred and when they knew, and if officials have been keeping the information from the public. Carus said damaged packaging of potassium permanganate led to the Jan. 11 fire, after it conducted its own investigation through a third party, but the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal has not released details of what led to the fire.

City officials expressed frustration at a video taken Jan. 11 not being shared with the State Fire Marshal, or the city.

“That’s a question I’d have for Carus,” Grove said. “Why isn’t that video being shared with the Fire Marshal?”

Get your pool drained by the city

With the materials from the Jan. 11 fire that fell onto residents’ properties, La Salle residents have been advised not to drain their swimming pools into the city’s sewer system. The city will test the water first to determine if it can be drained into the sewer, then determine the best method for draining it.

Residents should call City Hall at 815-223-3755 to have the city handle it. Grove said the city will take care of the pools by the next council meeting Monday, May 15.