By Marcelle Dibrell

Another major BioLab chemical incident could have ramifications for the U.S. domestic trichlor supply.

The Conyers, Georgia, BioLab manufacturing plant continued to release large amounts of toxic chemicals into the air days after an incident that originated with a small rooftop fire at about 5:30 a.m. on September 29. The rooftop fire triggered a sprinkler system within the building that dampened water-reactive trichloroisocyanuric acid (trichlor) inside, initiating a decomposition reaction that released large amounts of chlorine and chlorine compounds into the air.

BioLab manufactures trichlor — a chemical that is safe when submerged in large volumes of water but undergoes a decomposition reaction that generates heat and releases chlorine gas when it is exposed to small amounts of water.

It is unclear what started the original rooftop fire, which was extinguished but reignited before BioLab employees could move the trichlor away from the source of water. According to fire officials, the fire was under control by 4 p.m. on the day it started, but smoke continued to last for days.

It is also unclear why a sprinklerbased fire suppression system was installed in a building where waterreactive chemicals were stored, as opposed to a deluge system, which could completely saturate the chemical.

Although no injuries were reported during the fire and subsequent building collapse, the huge plumes of smoke that resulted in the area forced the evacuation of 17,000 residents, caused nearly 90,000 people to shelter in place, and closed Interstate 20.

The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) sent a team to investigate the incident while scientists and public health officials continued to monitor the air days after the fire.

According to Dr. Sally Ng of the Georgia Institute of Technology — who researches aerosol chemistry at the Atmospheric Science and Chemistry Measurement Network (Ascent) site in Decatur, Georgia — on the day after the fire, chlorinecontaining particles were measured 1,400 time higher than normal about 17 miles from the BioLab plant.

Many residents were angered by the situation, which went on for days. Mitch Henson, a local business owner, was forced, along with many other businesses, to close shop for several days due to the smoke and strong odor of chlorine. He described the conditions as a “white-out,” with reduced visibility to about 15 feet.

Some residents have started a petition, demanding that the Conyers BioLab facility be shut down because this is not the first time an incident of this magnitude has taken place there.

Some state officials have also called for the BioLab facility to be shut down or punished, which they voiced at a press conference on October 3.

Georgia State Senator Tonya Anderson said that government officials are looking into passing bad actor legislation to strengthen Georgia against companies that repeatedly endanger community health.

Daniel Blackman, the former region 4 EPA administrator, said that the company has been guilty of multiple violations over the last few years, and they should face more than a slap on the wrist.

“We have to fine them in a way that should also include criminal charges,” Blackman said. “Companies like this have no place in our community. We’re calling for Biolab to close but also for it to not be in any other neighborhood — not just in Georgia, but around the United States.

According to the U.S. Occupational and Safety Health Administration, BioLab has been cited and/or fined numerous times.

BioLab’s September 2024 fire is the fourth significant incident that has occurred in the last 20 years.

In May 2004, a warehouse fire with multiple explosions occurred at the Conyers plant, causing more than $25 million in damage and forcing the evacuation of more than 3,000 people. At the time, the 260,000-square-foot metal warehouse contained 12.5 million pounds of chemicals.

In June 2016, the facility again caught fire, although on a much smaller scale. Residents within a mile of the plant were evacuated but were given the all-clear to return within two hours.

In September 2020, 10-12 pallets of chemicals within the Conyers warehouse were exposed to water, causing plumes of chlorine gas and smoke, which closed Interstate 20 for at least six hours, forced the evacuation of small businesses, and caused residents to shelter in place.

Angry at the frequency of such incidents, a class-action lawsuit was filed on September 30, 2024, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The lawsuit alleges negligence on the part of BioLab, claiming that the company’s actions led to the chemical fire and subsequent harmful fume release. At least five additional lawsuits have also been filed.

“What’s especially egregious is that the defendants have been here before — having exposed this community in a similar fashion over the past 20 years,” said Daniel Flynn, an attorney representing Rockdale County residents.

Attorneys have said that while it is too early to know the full scale of the health impacts, they are ready to sue on behalf of residents who have suffered immediate losses. The current lawsuits are focused on property damage, remediation and clean-up costs, loss of profits, diminished property value, business interruption, exposure to hazardous chemicals. and emotional distress.

It is not yet clear whether the recent Conyers incident will have an impact on the pool and spa industry’s supply and price of trichlor.

At a different BioLab facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana, a major fire caused by damages from Hurricane Laura in August 2020 wiped out about a third of the country’s trichlor.

Prior to Hurricane Laura, BioLab employees had transported 825,000 pounds of trichlor off-site, but at the time of the fire, one million pounds of trichlor remained on site.

The amount of trichlor that was stored in the Conyers facility this September has not been reported.

However, a letter sent to customers from Biolab’s parent company, KIK, stated, “Fortunately, the fire was isolated to just one building on our campus that stores and supplies some raw materials and packaging components to our plants. All our oncampus manufacturing buildings, our distribution center, and our finished goods warehouse were not directly affected by this event.”