Ottawa Mayor Dan Aussem says people have been seeing fire trucks at the new Carus LLC chemical storage location lately because the fire fighters are getting acquainted with the place. The plan is for the fire fighters to know what’s inside the building, what the hazards are, and how to best deal with a fire or other emergency. Aussem says he’ll visit tomorrow morning (Wednesday, March 8).
Carus is storing “tier II” chemicals there. Tier II chemicals are those the Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires safety data sheets for in workplaces that use or store them. There are more than 500,000 on the list. Chemicals that can produce at least some toxic effects are listed.
Since the fire at Carus Chemical in LaSalle nearly two months ago, many people have become critical of Ottawa City Hall for permitting Carus to use part of the South Towne Mall as a warehouse. The fire in LaSalle sent potassium permanganate into neighborhoods north of the production facility. Mayor Aussem says combustible items that don’t need to be in the warehouse are being removed and the company will have fire suppression systems to stop flames fast.
Distrustful LaSalle residents have been demanding more information from their city officials and from Carus. They don’t believe cleanup has gone as well as the company and city say or that the compounds are as harmless as they’ve been told.
Carus says it has a good record with the compounds. The January fire was the first such incident in decades of production. The company’s LaSalle facility produces potassium permanganate and sodium permanganate. They’re used in water treatment to make dissolved iron, manganese, and hydrogen sulfide solidify so filters can remove them. Carus is the only American producer and had an 80% market share before the fire, according to Chemical and Engineering News.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in January that it would likely be 90 days before Carus could resume production. The agency told Carus customers to contact the compounds’ distributors about product availability and state regulators about alternatives.
Fire department visits to businesses aren’t unusual in Ottawa. The department has regularly visited businesses of all types for more than two decades as part of a program to improve the community’s insurance ratings and lower insurance costs.