La Salle council will meet again with Sierra Club to examine further testing

The La Salle City Council plans to meet again with Sierra Club to examine future prospects for more testing in response to the Jan. 11 Carus Chemical fire.

At the previous council meeting, a third party recommended additional indoor air quality testing that would cost the city of La Salle $80,000. Indoor Science, an indoor air quality organization, had recommendations following results presented by the Sierra Club of metals found in eight furnace filter samples.

Concerned La Salle residents, however, told the City Council on Monday the Sierra Club is proposing less expensive testing, because Indoor Science is testing beyond the scope of what’s necessary.

A consensus was reached by the council and residents, any testing conducted needs to be of the variety that would move the Environmental Protection Agency, Illinois EPA and Illinois Department Department of Public Health from their positions should the results dictate.

After receiving the laboratory results of the soil samples collected from residential properties and public parks from a third party La Salle hired to conduct testing, the IDPH responded in a three-page letter to the city Monday saying it does not believe additional soil sampling is necessary beyond what is already planned for in a previous Superfund residential soil sampling and cleanup effort.

The U.S. EPA also answered in a letter Friday it does not believe additional testing would be useful and able to determine the impact to residents caused by the Carus Chemical fire.

“What will it take to change their mind?” asked La Salle resident Pat Walters of the City Council.

Several residents, including Walters, reiterated their tests of furnace filters were returned with heavy metals that can pose health risks, including positive tests from furnace filters that had been installed after the fire.

La Salle Alderman Tom Ptak said he supports the residents and wants to answer their concerns, but he also said aldermen and city staff face the issue of not possessing the scientific expertise, so they depend on agencies and experts to help make sense of the information. Residents admitted they don’t trust the EPA or IEPA, citing various reasons. With that said, the council reached a consensus it will continue to support the residents, but that it may not have all the answers.

Ottawa resident and environmentalist Katie Troccoli requested the city seek an investigation into the matter from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, and do so by issuing a letter. La Salle Attorney James McPhedran said state Rep. Lance Yednock (D-Ottawa) has asked for the agency’s review, but council members didn’t determine Monday if they would send a letter to the AG’s office.

Residents also asked why representatives of Carus have not attended any council meetings since a news conference in the immediate wake of the fire.

The residents suggested a town hall with company representatives would be helpful to express concerns and ask questions. For example, city officials have said Carus will not tell the city who its insurance provider is, which poses several concerns for residents. Without knowing who the insurance provider is, Alderman Bob Thompson said again Monday there’s no way to know whether the insurance adjusters coming to residents’ homes are associated with a state licensed insurance company.

When asked late Monday if Carus will attend the next meeting, a spokeswoman for the company said she will respond to the NewsTribune with an answer Tuesday.

As Monday’s meeting concluded, La Salle resident Martin Schneider joked, the residents would “quit coming” if they received a meeting with Carus.

La Salle resident Jamie Hicks said Monday’s meeting was a success because he believes the residents are opening more of the council members’ eyes to the environmental concerns. He said the Sierra Club said it will help residents “to the end” and called it a disappointment Carus has not met in a public setting with residents.

Carus issues statement about volunteer’s letter

Carus issued a news statement pertaining to a letter that was not discussed at Monday’s meeting, nor was the topic brought up by residents.

The letter from Denise Trabbic-Pointer, CHMM Emeritus, Sierra Club - Michigan Chapter, outlined Carus uses a generic emergency response plan that provides little specific data about what is stored on-site; another primary concern outlined was the movement of materials from the Carus site to the Apollo warehouse in La Salle and then to a Lotz Logistics warehouse in Ottawa; most of the materials stored and manufactured at the facility are solids that can become airborne during storage, handling and use.

The letter was written by Pointer and not officially from the Sierra Club.

Carus responded with a news statement Monday night.

“In the interest of transparency Carus LLC is committed to addressing misinformation that is out there and supplying local leaders, community members and neighbors with correct information and updates. We recently became aware of claims made by the Sierra Club in a March 2023 letter to the U.S. EPA and Illinois EPA regarding the fire that occurred at Carus’ manufacturing facility on Jan. 11, 2023.

“We felt it was the right thing to do to send a letter (Monday) to Mayor (Jeff) Grove and the La Salle City Council addressing inaccurate information from the Sierra Club letter and provide correct information. We will also be updating our FAQs on Carus’ website (Tuesday) to ensure that our neighbors and community members have access to this accurate information as well,” said Lyndsay Bliss, VP of Human Resources and Communications in the news statement.

Carus said in the news statement it will continue to provide updates on cleanup and community support efforts, through CarusLLC.com and the Carus Community Hotline at 815-224-6662.

The NewsTribune is seeking further comment from Sierra Club.