Thousands told to stay home a day after chemical plant fire sent a plume containing chlorine high into the air

By Cindy Von Quednow, Lauren Mascarenhas and Brenda Goodman, CNN

(CNN) — Thousands of people were told to stay home with their windows shut Monday after a fire at a Georgia industrial plant caused a chemical reaction that prompted around 17,000 people to evacuate Sunday and left potentially harmful chlorine lingering in the air.

Residents and businesses were told to evacuate the area around the BioLab plant in Conyers after the blaze broke out early Sunday morning. A shelter-in-place advisory is ongoing for around 90,000 people in surrounding Rockdale County.

The plume from the chemical reaction that followed the outbreak of the fire could be seen for miles – and officials on Monday were cautioning those still in the area to stay indoors with their windows closed and air conditioners off. BioLab manufacturers pool and spa treatment products.

Air quality surveys conducted by state and federal agencies “revealed the harmful irritant chlorine” coming from the facility, county officials said in a news release Monday morning. Exposure to chlorine can cause burning of the eyes, nose and mouth, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can also lead to coughing, choking, nausea, vomiting, headache and dizziness.

Officials in Georgia have declared a local area emergency. The Environmental Protection Agency is monitoring air quality for chlorine, though officials have found that current chemicals levels are unlikely to cause most people harm.

County facilities in Rockdale County remained closed Monday.

Residents in nearby counties have also reported the smell of bleach or chemicals in the air.

Officials in Fulton County, to the west of Rockdale County, are investigating reports of a haze and a strong chemical smell believed to be related to the plume from the plant, Atlanta-Fulton County Emergency Management said Monday.

Officials in Atlanta are conducting air quality checks. Conyers is about 30 miles east of Atlanta.

So far, air quality tests have been within “acceptable levels,” the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department said Monday afternoon.

In Gwinnett County, to the north of Conyers, residents also reported a haze and chemical smell. Meanwhile Newton County, to the south of the plant, closed its schools and offices Monday. To the west of the plant, some schools and daycare centers in Dekalb County closed their doors Monday.

Interstate 20 near the plant reopened in both directions Monday after authorities shut down portions of the highway Sunday citing “unpredictable path and wind direction, which could change the direction of the irritants in the air.”

The EPA’s network of air quality monitors around metro Atlanta showed moderate to high levels of small particulate air pollution around the city on Monday morning. Small particles can lodge deep into the lungs and aggravate lung conditions like asthma. They are also tiny enough to cross into the bloodstream where they contribute to heart attacks and strokes.

A permanent air monitor in Lawrenceville showed a level of 153 on Monday, making it unhealthy for anyone to breathe. An air sensor in Decatur also read high initially but had dropped to moderate levels by mid-afternoon. At moderate levels, people who are sensitive to air pollution, such as those with asthma, should stay indoors. Others should limit their outdoor activity, according to the AirNow website.

“I am seeing that there are other pollutant concentrations, pollutant levels, that are elevated in certain parts of the city right now that are probably also associated with that release,” from the Biolab facility, said Jeremy Sarnat, an assistant professor of environmental and occupational health at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health.

However, EPA crews on the ground did not see any traces of the chemicals of concern – chlorine and hydrochloric acid – in the currently available data, Bryan Vasser, an on-scene coordinator with the agency, said Monday afternoon.

“We didn’t see concentrations of those chemicals in the air that would exceed an action level for us … or that would seem unsafe to the public,” Vasser said.

He indicated air monitoring continues on site, in the evacuation zone and beyond to determine whether ongoing evacuations and shelter-in-place orders are appropriate.

The fire broke out on the roof of the plant around 5 a.m. Sunday. Water from what officials earlier described as a malfunctioning sprinkler head “came in contact with a water reactive chemical and produced a plume,” county officials said in a statement.

Firefighters were able to contain the fire, but it reignited hours later, Rockdale County Sheriff Eric Levett said in a video message posted on Facebook.

The fire was extinguished around 4 p.m., Rockdale County Fire and Rescue Chief Marian McDaniel said, but the building’s roof later collapsed.

While the fire is completely out, crews are dousing the building with water to control any possible hot spots as debris is moved, McDaniel said Monday in a video message posted on Facebook.

Some of the affected product was removed from the building after the initial fire was put out, she explained, but the rest will be removed once the structure is brought down.

“There is nothing that we can do or will be done to make this product any worse than it already is. It is off-gassing, but once we can get it removed from the building, from the water source, in a secure area, then we will see a better diminishing of the clouds and smoke that we are seeing,” McDaniel said. Off-gassing is when a material releases chemicals into the air.

KIK Consumer Products, which owns BioLab, said its employees at the plant are all accounted for and no injuries were reported.

“We continue to work collaboratively with first responders and local authorities and have deployed specialized teams from out of state to the site to bolster and support their efforts. We are all focused on remediating the situation as rapidly as possible,” the company said in a statement Monday.

It was an “all hands on deck” situation Sunday, Rockdale County Chairman Oz Nesbitt told CNN’s Jessica Dean. “All of our resources have been dispatched and deployed,” Nesbitt said.

Nesbitt described the damage as a “complete collapse.”

The Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency is responding to the incident, Garrison Douglas, a spokesperson for Gov. Brian Kemp’s office, told CNN on Monday.

“The governor is receiving regular updates from local, state, and federal partners and wants to thank the hardworking responders who are prioritizing this incident in addition to the ongoing storm recovery efforts,” Douglas said in a statement.

In September 2020, BioLab experienced a “thermal decomposition event” that also led to a fire that temporarily closed I-20.

In its final report on that incident, the US Chemical Safety Board found strong winds from Hurricane Laura damaged the lab’s warehouse, allowing rainwater into the building. The water came in contact with a chemical and initiated a reaction that caused the fire.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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