All of the chemical product has been removed from the Conyers site of the BioLab chemical plant fire and the shelter-in-place advisory has been lifted, county officials said Thursday.
The announcement comes 19 days after the fire sent a massive plume of smoke into the sky, disrupting schools and businesses and forcing many to evacuate.
The rest of the cleanup will now be managed by BioLab’s corporate leaders and their on-site contractors. Federal and state regulators will oversee the work.
BioLab officials did not participate in Thursday’s news conference, drawing sharp criticism from Rockdale Chairman Oz Nesbitt. He said the community has been “held hostage” by the company’s chemical fire, caused by a faulty sprinkler system Sept. 29.
“Quite frankly, it’s a slap in the face,” Nesbitt said. “I feel like the citizens and business owners who have been held hostage for the last 19 days deserve to hear directly from the leadership, the corporate management of BioLab.”
A BioLab representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Because of the fire and the long-lasting plume of smoke, 17,000 residents were initially evacuated, and thousands were under nightly shelter-in-place orders. Rockdale school buildings closed for two weeks, and many county and state leaders have called for criminal investigations and additional regulations.
In recent days, the nightly shelter-in-place advisory had been in place for those living within a 2-mile radius of the plant. Bryan Vasser, an on-site coordinator with the EPA, said recent air monitoring results did not reach action levels, which means the air is safe enough for the shelter guidance to be lifted.
“Over the past 72 hours, we have not really had much of a visible plume, if any,” he said in the news conference.
Rockdale County Schools will reopen Monday, the school district announced Thursday. Students have been attending school virtually due to the plant fire cleanup.
People in the surrounding area are worried about the long-term health impacts from exposure to the chemicals, and multiple lawsuits have been filed against BioLab, which has had multiple incidents in the last 20 years.
BioLab has issued statements that it “deeply regrets” the impact of the fire on the community. It opened an assistance center for people to process claims for expenses incurred as a result of the fire.
BioLab received tax incentives from Rockdale County for its expansion in 2019. It is also one of the county’s largest employers and taxpayers. Nesbitt said now that the immediate safety concerns are gone, the county will begin having “a different type of conversations with corporate management.”
“I don’t know what happened in the past with the previous board of commissioners or the previous leadership in this community,” Nesbitt said. “This board, this administration, will be entering and engaging in some very serious conversations with the corporate leadership and management of BioLab.”
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, will remain on-site, officials said. The Georgia Environmental Protection Division will continue to monitor the cleanup.
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