ATLANTA — Residents east of Atlanta were again warned Tuesday to take shelter where they are if shifting winds push the still-billowing chemical cloud from a chlorine factory fire over their neighborhood.
A shelter-in-place order had just ended Monday evening for Rockdale County, where the chemical fire sent a huge plume of orange and black smoke into the Georgia sky on Sunday. People complained about a strong chemical smell and haze for many miles around the BioLab plant in Conyers, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of downtown Atlanta.
“Due to the weather, the plume is banking down and moving throughout the county. If the cloud moves over your vicinity, please shelter in place until the cloud moves out,” Rockdale County officials told residents on social media early Tuesday.
The City of Atlanta said its firefighters continue to monitor the fallout, and urged anyone with “nose, throat or eye irritation, or difficulty breathing,” to call a Georgia Poison Center hotline.
“If you don’t have to be outside, if you don’t have to be on the roadways, stay home,” Rockdale County Board of Commissioners Chairman Oz Nesbitt said at a Tuesday morning news conference.
The fire was brought under control around 4 p.m. Sunday, officials said, but firefighters were still actively engaged Tuesday as the smoldering material kept sending up a plume of now grey-white smoke. The pollution “constantly shifted,” and with no strong prevailing wind to disperse it, smelly haze lingered across the Atlanta area.
BioLab’s website says it is the swimming pool and spa water care division of Lawrenceville, Georgia-based KIK Consumer Products. Residents around the area expressed frustration that company officials in their public statements didn’t specify what “products” were burning.
Atlanta’s fire department said it was testing for the presence of chemicals including chlorine, hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also has been monitoring, for “chlorine and related compounds.”
Federal officials are investigating what led to the fire and how it has been handled. The sprinkler system showered water onto water-reactive chemicals around 5 a.m. Sunday, Rockdale County Fire Chief Marian McDaniel said. There were employees inside the plant, 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…
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