Joining more than a dozen classaction lawsuits, Rockdale County, Georgia, has filed a federal lawsuit against BioLab and its parent company, KIK.
The lawsuit comes as a response to the fire and massive plume of hazardous smoke that forced the evacuation of 17,000 people, placed more than 70,000 residents under shelter-in-place orders, and closed area schools for several weeks.
On September 29, a rooftop fire at the BioLab facility in Conyers, Georgia, caused sprinklers to go off within a building containing waterreactive trichlor. Though the fire was put out hours later, a huge plume of hazardous smoke, which could be seen from 30 miles away, continued to billow and affect air quality for days.
In an October 18 press conference, Rockdale County Fire Rescue Chief Marian McDaniel said that 4 million pounds of the chemical trichlor was in the plant at the time of the fire and that 787 gallons of water was used to neutralize the chemical before it was taken to a HAZMAT waste facility.
If the amount of trichlor cited by McDaniel is correct, more trichlor was lost on September 29 than the estimated 1.6 million pounds of trichlor lost after Hurricane Laura damaged the BioLab facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana in August, 2020, resulting in a nationwide trichlor shortage.
In response to the incident, Rockdale County officials want the Conyers facility declared a public nuisance, permanently shut down, and required to pay significant compensation for damages.
County officials say they don’t want to risk another potential environmental catastrophe from a company that has a long history of negligence.
“BioLab has had at least four instances of negligence in the 20 years that it has operated in this community,” said Rockdale County Commissioner Sherri Washington. “At this point, their risk to our community far outweighs any benefit that we could possibly glean from their operation in this county. We can no longer stand by and allow a corporation to continuously affect our current and future physical health, our mental health, and our overall quality of life.”
BioLab stated that it has taken steps to help residents and ease the impact of the incident, such as launching a 24/7 call center to help with claims and reimbursement requests; opening an in-person Community Assistance Center; and setting up a debris collection service.
BioLab’s first payments to residents impacted by the fire went out on October 15. People lined up all day outside the Community Assistance Center in Conyers waiting for hours. Many of those who got appointments left with checks to compensate them for issues caused by the fire.
A local news channel said that the minimum payout was $1,000, and the compensation varied based on the costs each person incurred.
Attorneys representing people in one of the class-action lawsuits said that Biolab representatives have promised not to force anyone to waive their rights to sue, but advised clients to be careful with what they sign.
In a virtual town hall meeting, a lawyer said, “We want to make sure everyone understands those rights so they don’t sign them away.”
