A federal safety agency has released its final findings on a massive 2024 fire at a Georgia chemical plant, concluding that far too many swimming pool chemicals were being stored on-site and that the facility’s sprinkler system had been deteriorating for years.
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board determined that the BioLab plant in Conyers — located roughly 25 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta — was holding more than twice the amount of pool chemicals it was designed to store. On top of that, the sprinkler system inside the warehouse had been showing signs of serious corrosion and leaking as far back as 2019, shortly after the company started keeping those chemicals at the location.
According to the board’s report, the large bags of chemicals naturally released chlorine fumes that, when combined with moisture in the warehouse air, formed hydrochloric acid droplets that settled on the metal sprinkler heads and gradually ate away at them. A December 2023 inspection revealed that more than 1,100 sprinkler heads were corroded.
On September 29, 2024, a corroded part of the sprinkler system gave out. Water made contact with the chemicals and triggered a decomposition reaction that generated intense heat, ultimately producing smoke, toxic vapors, and fire.
Board chairperson Steve Owens did not mince words when describing the situation. “The conditions and circumstances at the Bio-Lab Conyers warehouse were completely unacceptable,” he said, noting that roughly 14 million pounds of reactive chemicals were being kept there without proper safety measures in place.
Owens went on to describe the scale of the hazard: “These hazardous chemicals were packaged in roughly 5,000 giant sacks, each weighing more than a ton, and some of them were stacked in such a way in the warehouse that responders were not able to keep the initial situation from developing into a catastrophic fire and massive plume of toxic smoke that put thousands of people potentially at risk.”
BioLab produces chemicals used to control algae and bacteria in swimming pools and hot tubs. The company operates as a subsidiary of KIK Consumer Products, which is based in Lawrenceville, Georgia.
Following the fire, BioLab decided against rebuilding the plant. The U.S. Department of Labor cited the company for six violations — four of which were classified as serious — and proposed more than $60,000 in penalties. The federal safety board has also called for broader regulatory oversight of the types of chemicals involved.
A company spokesperson responded to the report in an emailed statement, saying BioLab fully cooperated with the investigation and is currently reviewing the findings. “We will carefully consider its recommendations as part of our ongoing commitment to safety and continuous improvement,” the statement read. “The health and safety of the communities where we operate is a top priority, and we worked collaboratively with first responders and relevant authorities to complete the emergency response in October 2024. We also completed the clean-up of the site affected by the fire and established resources dedicated to supporting area residents and business owners.”
