Haze and a chlorine odor will likely descend upon Atlanta on Thursday, as officials struggle to contain the fallout from a Georgia chemical lab fire that ignited Sunday.
Air quality monitoring detected elevated chlorine levels overnight around a BioLab facility in Conyers, Georgia, according to a press release on Wednesday from the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency.
With weather models predicting a wind shift, there is a high likelihood that people across metro Atlanta will wake up on Thursday morning seeing haze and smelling chlorine, GEMA/HS said in the release.
The cause of these elevated chlorine levels was a fire that ignited on the roof of the BioLab plant in Conyers, in Rockdale County, at 5 a.m. Sunday. It has since been put out, but the resulting release of chemical gas prompted a shelter-in-place recommendation for the entire county, population 93,570, as well as mandatory evacuation orders for residents near the plant.
While the air quality findings announced Wednesday were above the action level for chlorine, GEMA/HS says workers on site have continued to make progress in neutralizing the product. Periodic increases in chlorine levels around the facility are expected as this process continues, the agency said.
Forecasts show that winds will start shifting from east to west after sunset Wednesday, and smoke is predicted to settle toward the ground as it nears Atlanta, which is about 30 miles west of Conyers. As the air lifts back up in the afternoon and evening on Thursday though, GEMA/HS says that the smell and haze should dissipate.
Smoke that contains chlorine compounds can cause symptoms that include irritation of the eyes and airways. Those with heart or lung disease might experience additional symptoms like chest pain, shortness of breath or fatigue. GEMA/HS recommends that individuals limit exposure to the smoke by staying inside and keeping indoor air as clean as possible.
Rockdale County residents have since taken to social media to express their frustration with the situation, with comments like, “Driving though that mess BURNS and working right here has me feeling like I’m gonna develop a third eye pretty soon,” and “I already know a lot of people having lung/chest pain and other complications from this in the areas being told to ‘shelter in place.'”
GEMA/HS says chlorine levels in the air sit at safe levels.
A number of state and federal agencies, including GEMA/HS and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, are continuing to monitor air quality in the Atlanta area in the aftermath of the chemical fire by using the Trace Atmospheric Gas Analyzer, which is a self-contained mobile laboratory capable of real-time monitoring of outdoor air or emissions.
Anyone experiencing symptoms such as nose, throat or eye irritation or difficulty breathing can report them to the Georgia Poison Center hotline at 404-856-6252.
