According to the findings of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB), it was a chemical reaction that caused the massive fire and toxic smoke plume at a Georgia laboratory in September that threatened nearby communities and metro Atlanta.
The board released its findings Friday following an investigation into the September 29 chemical fire at a BioLab plant in Conyers, Georgia.
The safety council said the main substances involved are a collection of chemicals commonly used for cleaning and disinfection: bromochloro-5,5-dimethylimidazolidine-2,4-dione (BCDMH), trichloroisocyanuric acid (TCCA) and sodium dichloroisocyanurate (DCCA) . . The chemicals were stored in the factory’s warehouse and generated heat, which ultimately led to their breakdown and the release of toxic fumes and fires, the CSB said in its report.
“The resulting huge plumes of toxic smoke contained chlorine and other hazardous substances and caused significant impacts elsewhere,” the CSB said.
Operator KIK Consumer Products runs the BioLab facility in Conyers, which makes Clorox brand pool cleaning products made with chlorine.
The CSB said the incident started around 5 a.m., when a BioLab employee on fire watch heard “a popping sound” in one of the warehouses. Ultimately, the employee called 911 because “large dangerous plumes of toxic fumes” had been released into the warehouse.
“At 6:30 a.m., the flames became visible over the area of the chemical reaction and were quickly extinguished in less than two hours,” the CSB said, adding that another, larger fire broke out shortly before 12:30 p.m. and was eventually extinguished. around 4 p.m. The fires completely destroyed that warehouse, known as Factory 12.
Dangerous sulfuric acid clouds caused mandatory evacuations in Conyers, Georgia, on September 30.
According to the CSB, the emergency services then started evacuating the area. About 17,000 people in the nearby community were evacuated and more than 90,000 people in the Atlanta metropolitan area were told to shelter in place. The last on-site warning regarding the incident was issued on the evening of October 16 and expired the following day.
The Environmental Protection Agency detected elevated chlorine and hydrogen chloride levels during air monitoring it conducted from September 30 to October 2, the CSB said. The agency continued to monitor the air until October 17, when it detected low chlorine levels at 11 monitoring stations around the incident site.
CSB chairman Steve Owens said the incident and the risk it posed to Rockdale County were “completely unacceptable”.
“Reactive chemical incidents can have serious consequences for the environment and public safety due to the combination of fire, toxic gas emissions and hazardous materials. Bio-Lab and any other facility that has reactive chemicals on site must manage those materials safely,” Owens said. in a statement.
The CSB’s investigation into the incident is ongoing as it continues to investigate the cause of the chemical’s decomposition, the storage and handling of the chemicals, as well as industry fire safety guidelines regarding such chemicals.
The council will record its findings and recommendations in its final investigation report.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
