CONYERS, Ga. — Conyers, a city of roughly 17,000, has been evacuated and surrounding Rockdale County, with a population of nearly 100,000, is under shelter-in-place guidance continuing into the early morning hours of Monday after a fire at a BioLab facility and resulting chemical plume.
Meanwhile, in the later morning much of metro Atlanta -- most directly in Gwinnett County, which borders Rockdale to the north, but also the City of Atlanta and elsewhere -- reported the smell of chlorine and in some parts, a haze descended on their communities.
Gwinnett County Public Schools has canceled outdoor activities and cut outside air from coming into buildings, a statement on the district website says. The county government said before noon that EPA had not picked up anything of concern on its mobile monitors in Gwinnett, and said its county Fire and Emergency Services Hazardous Materials team did not detect anything hazardous.
Rockdale County provided updated guidance at 3:20 a.m. Monday morning.
Here is the basic critical information as of 3:20 a.m.:
- Evacuation: This was put into place for virtually the entire city of Conyers, a zone between Sigman Road and I-20. See an evacuation zone map here.
- Shelter-in-place: This was advised for the whole county through midnight on Sunday, and the early-morning update from the Rockdale County government has extended it into Monday with no given timetable for when it might end. Those sheltering in place are advised that "the best practice is to turn the air conditioning off and keep windows and doors shut."
- What's in the air: The presence of chlorine has been confirmed by federal EPA and state EPD testing, Rockdale County said. What, if any, other chemicals might be involved has not been detailed.
- What direction is the plume going?: Unclear as of 3:20 a.m., with the Rockdale release describing an "unpredictable path and wind direction."
- Shelter locations for those affected:
- The Rockdale County Government posted about shelter locations. Below is a list:
- 2484 Bruce St. Lithonia, 30058
- 218 Scout Road, Covington, 30016
- 3375 E Fairview Road SW, Stockbridge, 30281
- DeKalb County has opened a recreation center to assist residents displaced.
- The American Red Cross is accepting evacuees at Lucious Sanders Recreation Center, 2484 Bruce Street, Lithonia, beginning at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday.
- DeKalb County Emergency Management has provided 200 cots.
- The Rockdale County Government posted about shelter locations. Below is a list:
- Interstate-20 has reopened: This took effect around 7 a.m.
- Hotlines: People are asked not to call 911 for non-emergency situations. They are directed to the county EMA hotline at 770-278-8300 or Rockdale County Sheriff's Office non-emergency line at 770-278-8200.
- Newton County Schools closed: Newton County is directly southeast of Rockdale. The schools in Rockdale County are on fall break starting today. Also, Georgia Piedmont Technical College's Newton and Rockdale campuses will be closed until further notice, a spokesperson said.
- Hospital situation: Officials said Piedmont Rockdale Hospital had evacuated some patients and that the hospital is on diversion. They asked anyone with an emergency situation to go to a hospital in a neighboring county.
In a statement, a spokesperson for BioLab said representatives are "actively responding" to the situation. The spokesperson said employees "are accounted for with no injuries reported." BioLab said it has a team is on the scene, working with first responders and local authorities to assess and contain the situation.
"As always, the safety of our community remains our top priority," the statement read.
Live look:
11Alive will provide additional updates throughout the day on the situation:
Conyers chemical plume after BioLab fire; evacuations & shelter-in-place guidance | Latest updates
11:45 a.m. | Gwinnett says EPA did not pick up "anything of concern on its mobile monitors" and that other previous readings in Rockdale "were not picking up toxic levels."
"The EPA is recommending anyone in the direct plume to stay inside, but they are not recommending a shelter in place order at this time. Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services' Hazardous Materials team has also been monitoring and has not detected anything hazardous," Gwinnett County said.
11:25 a.m. | Georgia Piedmont Technical College campuses in Clarkston and Lithonia are closed for the day as they monitor air quality.
11:20 a.m. | 11Alive Meteorologist Melissa Nord has a visualization of how the plume has drifted northward this morning:
11:15 a.m. | Fayette County Public Schools is also forgoing outdoor activities at school at this time "until we receive word from Fayette County Emergency Management Services that the fumes have cleared."
They have not yet, at this point, canceled afternoon outdoor activities and said they will "reevaluate the situation this afternoon."
10:50 a.m. | DeKalb County now says it is also getting the reports of air quality concerns. A statement said no advisories at this time while DeKalb EMA and DeKalb County Fire Rescue are testing air quality.
Full statement:
DeKalb Emergency Management Agency is aware of numerous reports of air quality concerns in the county following a chemical fire Sunday at a laboratory in Conyers.
Currently, there are no advisories from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division for DeKalb County concerning air quality.
DEMA and DeKalb County Fire Rescue are testing air quality throughout the day around the county and will issue advisories should they become necessary.
Residents are advised to call 311 to report any air quality concerns.
10:35 a.m. | Gwinnett County Public Schools statement on situation:
Good morning, GCPS Families and Staff,
Due to today’s shifting winds, and their impact on the chemical fire that occurred yesterday in Rockdale County, Rockdale County remains closed with a shelter in place order for their county. Due to our proximity to Rockdale County, the air quality in parts of Gwinnett County is also being negatively impacted.
Because the safety of our students and staff remains our number one priority, please note our response in Gwinnett County Public Schools. For today, September 30, we have canceled all outdoor activities and events, and we have stopped outside air from coming into our buildings. We will continue to monitor the air quality, and we are in touch with Gwinnett County and the Department of Public Health regarding our best next steps to ensure safety. We do know that Rockdale County has reported it may take some time for the fire cloud to dissipate. Until the air quality improves, we encourage all families and staff to limit time outside, and keep windows and doors shut.
We will continue to provide updates as they become available.
10:35 a.m. | City of Atlanta releases a statement saying Atlanta Fire Rescue Department and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport are conducting air quality checks. No warnings or advisories related to the Conyers plume at this time:
10:15 a.m. | We're continuing to see pretty jarring pictures of haze and fog in Gwinnett County. They just posted about it and say the smell "should dissipate in a couple of hours as the wind direction shift" and county EMA is monitoring the situation.
9:45 a.m. | More from Fulton EMA:
9:43 a.m. | Seeing several photos like this on social media of a haze descending on Gwinnett:
9:40 a.m. | 11Alive Chief Meteorologist Chris Holcomb confirming the chlorine smell in Gwinnett:
9:35 a.m. | Atlanta-Fulton County EMA now saying it's investigating and that if you have concerns, stay inside, close your windows and doors and turn off air conditioning.
We've also gotten early reports of a strong haze in south Gwinnett County, which borders Rockdale. The plume appears to be spewing northeast in the direction of Gwinnett.
9:30 a.m. | Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens responded to a post on X about the chlorine smell over Atlanta from a Georgia State professor, Anthony Michael Kreis. The mayor says fire personnel are going out with detectors to see what's in the air.
9:00 a.m. | A lot of people are now posting about also smelling chlorine in Atlanta.
8:50 a.m. | Rockdale County has provided an updated list of closed roads: Lester/Sigman, Farmer/Sigman, Irwin/Main, General Arts/Sigman, Dogwood/W. Ave., Green/W. Circle, Old Covington/Sigman, Sigman/Rockbridge, Dogwood Circle/Motel 6.
8:45 a.m. | Based on the angle of our GDOT cam below, it would appear the plume is expelling in a roughly northeast direction.
8:30 a.m. | Some City of Conyers updates were posted last night -- no sanitation pickup today, city unsure if it will be rescheduled at all this week. City Hall meanwhile is closed but some staff are working offsite conducting business and can be reached at 770-483-4411. Municipal court canceled today and Wednesday, court services can be contacted at 770-929-4208. Conyers University session for 6 p.m. is canceled and the Tuesday Conyers Downtown Development Authority 6 p.m. meeting is canceled.
8:00 a.m. | With daylight breaking, we now have eyes on the plume -- which still appears to be significant in size -- thanks to a GDOT camera. Take a look at the stream below:
7:55 a.m. | They had mostly announced this yesterday, but Rockdale County reaffirms as of a few minutes ago that all county government facilities are closed today.
7:30 a.m. | In the Facebook post by Rockdale County notifying everyone that I-20 is open again, many comments are wondering things like if this means people can go home -- one commenter said her husband has not been able to get home and is without his insulin -- whether people can go to work, what the air quality results are and more.
So far, no official clarity on these questions.
7:25 a.m. | Rockdale County alerted just before 7 a.m. that I-20 has reopened on both sides.
5:15 a.m. | Traffic cameras show that at least some traffic on I-20 East is currently open approaching the area where Sigman Road turns into North Salem Road.
5:00 a.m. | See the full Rockdale County release from 3:20 a.m. below:
More on Conyers chemical plume | What happened?
County officials said that around 5 a.m., a sprinkler head malfunctioned, causing a mixture with a "water-reactive chemical," which in turn started a small fire on the building's roof. That fire was contained and put out, but reignited around noon. The fire was again put out around 3:30 in the afternoon.
The continuing chemical plume emanating from the site is, officials said, the result of water continuing to react with chemicals.
Rockdale officials stated this is the third incident at the facility in seven years involving products mixing with water and causing a chemical reaction.
What is BioLab?
According to its website, BioLab is based in Lawrenceville and is the "swimming pool and spa water care division of KIK Consumer Products."
The company makes brands, including BioGuard and SpaGuard, that it says "pioneered computerized water testing and the 3-step system for pool and spa care."
RELATED: BioLab in Conyers had similar chemical fire, smoke plume situation in 2004 | Here's what happened
A similar fire and resulting chemical plume happened at a BioLab building in Conyers in 2004 -- it's unclear if the current situation is at the exact same site or perhaps a newer building.
BioLab back in 2004 was owned by Chemtura, a conglomerate that went into bankruptcy and was later acquired by a German company called Lanxess. BioLab is now owned by KIK Consumer Products, according to its website, in a sale from Chemtura a few years before that Chemtura was acquired by Lanxess.
Here are some ingredient lists for BioGuard products:
Ingredient list for Spa Guard product:
Ingredient list for Natural Chemistry products: