(LA
SALLE) -- For a number of years, Carus Chemical
Company'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
Chemical's LaSalle plant, and this issue
surfaced as a major concern. Carus Chemical'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 Chemical'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 Chemical Company 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 Chemical'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 Chemical
Company is proving its commitment to its
neighbors and to the Responsible Care® initiative. |
