The chemical fire in Georgia explained: Why there is chlorine in the air and what can be done about it

Amid the devastation and mass flooding caused by Hurricane Helene, another disaster struck the Atlanta metropolitan area: A chemical fire released a massive cloud of potentially toxic gases into the air. And it’s spreading.

A fire broke out early Sunday morning at BioLab, a chemical plant specializing in pool and spa water care in Conyers, just 30 miles east of Atlanta in Rockdale County. At the time of publication, it is unknown what caused the fire, but local fire officials say water from the triggered sprinkler system reacted with the various chemicals in the building.

At around 11 a.m. ET on Sunday, officials called for all religious services to close. By 11 a.m., several local roads were closed, and around 1 p.m., officials ordered about 17,000 people in Conyers to evacuate as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Georgia Department of Environmental Protection conducted air quality tests and discovered chlorine in the area around the plant. Chlorine is a toxic gas that can have short- and long-term negative health effects. Around noon, as first responders extinguished the initial fire and removed products from the facility, the fire re-ignited.

“We are all focused on resolving the situation as quickly as possible,” the company said in its latest statement.

Then late Sunday evening, officials issued a shelter-in-place order for Rockdale County, which is home to about 90,000 people. Fulton County, which includes parts of Atlanta, reported “haze and a strong chemical odor” this morning, which local officials said was likely due to the BioLab Fire.

Although acute exposure to chlorine gas causes a variety of symptoms, including coughing, eye and nose irritation, skin irritation and a burning sensation in the chest, several authorities have stated that the chlorine in the air poses no danger to most people. At the time of publication, health authorities have not identified specific high-risk groups, such as those with pre-existing respiratory illnesses.

All of this came after the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, which left local authorities short on resources and communications. It’s an alarming look at what can happen when multiple disasters occur simultaneously, and it highlights the need for better preparedness for such events.

A curfew remains in effect in Rockdale County. Officials are recommending residents keep their windows and doors closed and their air conditioning turned off, presumably to prevent toxic gases from entering. All Rockdale County government facilities are closed, as are several roads in the area. County officials advised businesses to remain closed until the shelter-in-place order is lifted.

The district posted a video on its Facebook page showing the aftermath of the fire. According to Marian McDaniel, chief of the county fire department, the front, left and right sides of the facility “completely collapsed.” She said that once they clear the debris from the fire, they will demolish the remaining site and retrieve the remaining “product” from the ruins of the facility.

“There is nothing we can or will do to make this product any worse than it already is,” McDaniel told the press. The clouds and smoke should disappear once the remaining chemicals are removed from the building.

But as the gas dissipates, which could take days, it is also moving to other parts of Georgia — cities and towns that may not have had clear instructions about what to do. On top of that, Helene has to deal with the consequences.

A full day later, the Georgia Emergency Services and Homeland Security Agency declared a local emergency Monday afternoon for residents living within 50 miles of the BioLab fire. By that time, thousands of residents in nearby Fulton and Gwinnett counties had already left their homes to go to school, work, doctor’s appointments, etc. and were unsure why the air next to a swimming pool smelled.

The Atlanta Fire Rescue Department conducted air quality tests Monday afternoon to detect chlorine and other chemicals in the air throughout the city. They said they found “no immediate threats to life safety” but did not provide further details about chlorine levels. They have also requested additional testing from state and federal authorities.

Georgia’s Ministry of Health added that so far “no significant toxicity has been detected in the smoke” but that people with heart or lung disease may be particularly affected and experience symptoms such as shortness of breath.

While the immediate focus is on rehabilitating the damaged facility, there are still many unanswered questions about how the BioLab fire will impact surrounding communities in the future.

There is currently no publicly available information about how much chlorine has been released into the air or what concentrations residents are being exposed to.

Long-term exposure to chlorine can lead to ongoing health problems such as potentially irreparable lung damage. Even a single exposure to high levels of chlorine can have negative health effects, making the question of how much is currently in the air over Georgia all the more pressing.

This isn’t the first fire to break out at this BioLab facility in Conyers – there have been at least three in the last two decades. The last fire happened just four years ago. There are questions about accountability, whether the facility did anything to meaningfully prevent these disasters, and the impact of repeated exposure to chemical fires and leaks on communities.

It is also too early to say what, if any, responsibilities BioLab will bear following this fire. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Oz Nesbitt, chairman of Rockdale County’s governing body, said the Board of Commissioners will speak with BioLab’s leadership about “their safety, their mitigation plan and their security plan within their operations.”

While multiple agencies who responded to the incident have reassured residents that the fire caused little to no health harm, many residents are dissatisfied and have left comments on the Rockdale County Facebook page expressing concern and frustration about expressing uncertainties.

“Who goes to jail for this?” wrote one commenter. “I’m just asking, considering how many people will be hurt by this and how much damage will be done to the local environment? This system is a known problem and has been for years.”