LaSalle residents affected by the Carus Chemical fire got to express their concerns to representatives of Carus during the company’s first town hall Wednesday at LP High School. The event started with comments from CEO Andy Johnston. He apologized for the fire and for how long it’s taken to get back to residents. After his comments, residents asked questions and commented about everything from the Apollo Warehouse, a warehouse that stored materials is owned by the company north of Porter Ave. in LaSalle, to their health and well-being. Many expressed frustration that Carus didn’t come to apologize after the fire.
Some questions were answered about the warehouse, but many others were written down by the Carus leadership to be answered later. Carus VP of Communications Alan Gibbs addressed some misinformation from some residents who said there were explosive chemicals in the warehouse. He says there wasn’t any.
Alan Gibbs (holding mic) adresses questions from residents affected by the Carus Chemical fire.
LaSalle City Attorney Jim McPhedran also spoke out against Carus’s insurance group helping people with their claims saying that Carus needs to take more responsibility for the problems the potassium permanganate caused. He says it was obvious that the company didn’t check the hotline.
The meeting scheduled for an hour and a half went almost two hours long. Some residents ended up leaving after about a half and hour because they weren’t satified with the chemical company’s answers. Another town hall is set for June. Residents have been asking for a meeting with Carus since the January fire.
Here are some more comments made from residents and Attorney McPhedran:
Here are some more comments made from Carus Chemical. The first clip is Andy Johnston issuing his apology. The second clip is VP of Communications Alan Gibb telling what was in the Apollo Warehouse. The third is VP of Information and Technology Richard Landtiser about how the potassium pergmangante that fell on residents houses is neutralized.