A class-action lawsuit has been filed against a Georgia chemical plant and its parent company, alleging their "negligent safety procedures" led to a fire and an ensuing plume of chemical smoke that has "upended the lives" of nearly 100,000 residents who now "fear for their health and the habitability of their neighborhoods."
On Sunday, a fire broke out on the roof of the BioLab facility in Conyers, Georgia, triggering a malfunctioning sprinkler head and causing water to interact with a water-reactive chemical housed at the plant, Rockdale County Fire Chief Marian McDaniel said. This sent a large cloud of dark smoke into the atmosphere that could be seen and even smelled for miles, with residents of both Rockdale County and neighboring communities reporting scents of strong chemicals and a heavy haze that's continued to create low visibility as far as Atlanta as of Wednesday.
Mandatory evacuation orders were put in place for those who lived around the facility, and a shelter-in-place was set for Rockdale County, with Georgia officials "strongly" advising all businesses to be closed and residents to stay home with their windows and doors shut and air conditioning kept off as the Environmental Protection Agency conducted air quality tests. These tests later confirmed the presence of chlorine in the air from the plume.
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In the lawsuit, filed Tuesday, plaintiff Tonya Long and "thousands" of other class members said they were "forced" to evacuate their homes with "no advanced notice." It states Long is still evacuated and is now "scared of the long-term implications for her family" due to the chemical smoke, which she claims has led her and her relatives to have "significant nasal irritation, light-headedness, fatigue, nausea and severe emotional distress."
The suit aims to ensure BioLab and its parent company, KIK Consumer Products, "pay for their recklessness and account for the consequences" they have imposed on the community. It seeks undetermined damages at a jury trial.
According to its website, BioLab is the swimming pool and spa water care division of KIK Consumer Products. The Conyers facility manufactures trichloroisocyanuric acid, which breaks down slowly in large bodies of water to release chlorine. But when it comes in contact with small amounts of water and doesn't dissolve, it can generate heat by chemical reaction and decompose, producing chemical gas, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which is investigating the Sunday fire, said.
Federal investigators are now looking into what caused the BioLab fire while removing debris from the area and keeping any hotspots contained. McDaniel said crews were working to remove the chemical product from the site but that there was "nothing that we can do or will be done" to make the product "any worse than it already is."
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Though the material is continuing to smolder, Rockdale County emergency officials had lifted the Sunday shelter-in-place order late Monday after the EPA said the level of chlorine it detected in the air was "unlikely to cause harm to most people." Overnight Tuesday, however, continued monitoring detected elevated chlorine levels around the facility, Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency said.
Rockdale County emergency officials have now recommended residents again shelter in place from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. until Friday as weather patterns may cause air quality readings to "dip to concerning levels" in the evenings. And Georgia officials are recommending area residents limit their time outdoors and keep their indoor air as clean as possible.
The CDC says inhaling chlorine gas can cause mucus, coughing, chest pain, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, dermatitis, hypoxemia, and burning of the eyes, nose and mouth. In 2004, a similar fire at the Conyers BioLab plant sent at least nine people to hospitals with burning sensations in their eyes and chest. And similar chemical fires occurred there in 2015 and 2020, with the former injuring six firefighters.
