(LA SALLE) -- For a number of years, Carus Corporation's neighbors in LaSalle have coped with the noise generated by the manufacturing plant.  A year ago a survey was conducted of the neighbors living in the area around Carus Corporation's LaSalle plant, and this issue surfaced as a major concern.  Carus Corporation's Community Awareness and Emergency Response (CAER) committee understood this concern and began to analyze the situation.  It was identified that the majority of the noise radiating to the neighborhood was created by the plant's overhead paging system.  The overhead paging system consists of numerous loud speakers placed around the manufacturing site, and announcements from the overhead pagers could be heard for several blocks around the plant, particularly on calm nights.

In order to solve the noise problem, Carus investigated several possible solutions. Three different technologies were examined: pagers, cell phones, and radios.  The final decision was made to utilize a system of radios. This decision was based on flexibility and practicality. One hundres and twelve radios were issued to all operation, maintenance, and support personnel who would normally utilize the overhead paging system.

The overhead paging system will remain in place, but it will ultimately be used only for emergency/evacuation announcements.

The new radio system is now in operation.  The system was costly (approximately $56,000).  However, the reduction of noise emitted to the neighborhood, and the increase in communication between radio users, made the project worthwhile-another example of Carus doing things right because it's the right thing to do. According to Scott Hoge, Carus Corporation's Environmental, Health, and Safety Manager, "Now that warmer weather is here, hopefully our LaSalle neighbors will notice that the noise level has decreased dramatically-by as much as 90%. Our neighbors can open their windows and hear (or not hear) a quieter manufacturing plant."

Carus Corporation was founded in 1915, and the manufacturing facility was built in the same area where it stands today.  Carus is the world's leading manufacturer of potassium permanganate and is acknowledged to be the leader in permanganate and manganese chemistry.  The most important uses of Carus products are to improve air and water quality for municipalities and for industry.

As part of Carus Corporation's involvement in the American Chemistry Council's award-winning Responsible Care® initiative, Carus is committed to manufacturing products that have a minimum impact on the environment.  The first guiding principle of Responsible Care® requires a commitment to "recognize and respond to community concerns about . . . our operations." Development and implementation of the new radio system is one of the many ways Carus Corporation is proving its commitment to its neighbors and to the Responsible Care® initiative.