Chemical Safety Board provides update on Georgia fire investigation

Washington — Despite precautionary safety measures put in place months earlier, a chemical plant in Conyers, GA, still experienced multiple fires and a “massive plume of potentially toxic smoke” that endangered the surrounding community, the Chemical Safety Board says.

CSB recently published an update on its ongoing investigation into the September incident, which occurred at a Bio-Lab Inc. facility. Investigators say a chemical reaction sparked the fires, which triggered the destruction of a storage warehouse. The reaction “generated heat that led to the decomposition of products” and “produced large plumes of smoke and released toxic vapors, prompting shelter-in-place orders, evacuations and road closures.” No one was injured in the incident.

The agency said it’s examining the storage and handling of oxidizers, which reacted with fuel and heat to ignite a fire. Additionally, it plans to analyze best practices for responding to emergencies involving bulk solid oxidizer chemical reactions and decompositions, as well as related regulatory and industry guidance.

CSB reports that Bio-Lab began a permanent fire watch two to three months before the incident after “detecting strong odors from oxidizers” in two storage buildings, including the one that ultimately was destroyed. Duties for workers involved in this task included:

• Identifying and managing hazards.
• Detecting early signs of product decomposition or fire hazards.
• Notifying site leadership of observed leaks or water intrusions.
• Alerting a third-party sprinkler company of sprinkler-head leakage.

Around 5 a.m. on the day of the incident, a worker on the fire watch called 911 after reportedly hearing a popping sound and later observing large plumes of toxic vapor inside the warehouse. Initial flames were extinguished that morning, but a larger fire ignited around 12:30 p.m. and wasn’t put out until about 4 p.m.

The Environmental Protection Agency, which conducted air monitoring throughout the incident, reported elevated levels of chlorine and hydrogen chloride for several days after the incident.

“This incident and the substantial potential risk it posed to the surrounding community was completely unacceptable,” CSB Chair Steve Owens said in a press release. “Reactive chemical incidents can have severe environmental and public safety impacts due to the combination of fire, toxic gas emissions and hazardous materials involved, and Bio-Lab and any other facility that has reactive chemicals onsite must manage those materials safely.”