A chemical cloud moving around Atlanta’s suburbs prompts a new shelter-in-place alert

ATLANTA– Residents east of Atlanta were warned again Tuesday to take shelter where they are as variable winds push still-slashing winds chemical cloud from a fire at a chlorine factory above their neighborhood.

A shelter-in-place order had just expired Monday evening for Rockdale County, where the chemical fire sent a huge plume of orange and black smoke into the sky near Georgia on Sunday. People complained of a strong chemical odor and mist for many miles around the BioLab plant in Conyers, about 25 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta.

“Because of the weather, the plume sinks down and moves through the province. If the cloud moves over your area, shelter in place until the cloud clears,” Rockdale County officials told residents on social media early Tuesday.

The city of Atlanta said its firefighters continue to monitor impacts and urged anyone with “nose, throat, or eye irritation, or difficulty breathing” to call the Georgia Poison Center hotline.

“If you don’t have to be outside, if you don’t have to be on the road, stay home,” Oz Nesbitt, chairman of the Rockdale County Board of Commissioners, said at a news conference Tuesday morning.

The fire was brought under control around 4 p.m. Sunday, officials said, but firefighters were still active Tuesday as the smoldering material continued to send up a plume of now gray-white smoke. The pollution was “constantly changing,” and with no strong prevailing winds to disperse it, a fetid haze remained over the Atlanta area.

BioLab’s website states that it is the pool and spa water care division of Lawrenceville, Georgia-based KIK Consumer Products. Residents in the area expressed frustration that company officials did not specify which “products” were on fire in their public statements.

The Atlanta Fire Department said it tested for the presence of chemicals including chlorine, hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has also been monitoring “chlorine and related compounds.”

Federal officials are investigating what led to the fire and how it was handled. The sprinkler system poured water on water-reactive chemicals around 5 a.m. Sunday, Rockdale County Fire Chief Marian McDaniel said. Employees were present at the factory, but no injuries were reported.

Residents north of Interstate 20 were ordered to evacuate on Sunday, while others were told to shelter in place. But residents of Atlanta’s densely populated eastern suburbs in DeKalb and Gwinnett counties also reported seeing a haze or the strong odor of chlorine.

Hours passed Sunday before DeKalb emergency management officials said data indicated the air pollution was “unlikely to harm most people.” DeKalb’s statement said anyone concerned about inhaling the chemicals could stay indoors with their homes locked and air conditioners turned off.

An EPA statement states that “the odor threshold for chlorine is very low, meaning people can smell it at very low concentrations that do not cause harm.”

Nesbitt made a point of holding the press conference outside Tuesday morning to show that “it’s okay for us to stand out here.” But he said “this has happened too many times” and vowed to work with state and federal officials to determine what needs to be done at the plant once the immediate crisis is resolved.

There have been other devastating fires at the Conyers complex, which opened in 1973.

In May 2004, multiple explosions at a warehouse sparked a massive fire that prompted the evacuation of 300 people as a chlorine-laden cloud rolled through the area, The Associated Press reported, sending up a plume of green, gray and white smoke takeoff that stretched 10 miles (16 kilometers) long. At least nine people went to hospitals with complaints of burning eyes and lungs.

In June 2015, six Rockdale County firefighters were injured in a fire at the complex, and another fire in 2016 led to some voluntary evacuations near the plant, the Rockdale Citizen reported.

In September 2020, a chemical fire prompted authorities to close Interstate 20 during the morning rush hour. Biolab workers tried to isolate decomposing chemicals to prevent the catastrophe, but their forklifts slid across the wet floor amid the fumes, and firefighters were hampered by poorly stacked pallets of materials, the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board later determined . Nine firefighters were assessed at hospitals after inhaling dangerous fumes.