(NewsNation) — A county in suburban Atlanta will file a federal lawsuit against the pool chemical company BioLab following a fire in late September that forced an estimated 90,000 residents to shelter in place and 17,000 others to evacuate after the blaze sent a toxic plume into the air.
Rockdale County commissioners announced Monday that they plan to file the lawsuit later this week after the board approved funding for the legal action. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that more than a dozen lawsuits have been filed against BioLab by local residents and business owners since the Sept. 29 fire.
The fire, which broke out at the BioLab factory in Conyers, Georgia, created a strong chemical smell and haze to cover the suburban Atlanta area.
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Nearly a month later, local officials are seeking an injunction to shut down the BioLab facility. The Journal-Constitution reported that the company has a history of prior fires and chemical releases around Georgia and Louisiana.
“At this point, their risk to our community far outweighs any benefit we can possibly glean from their operation in this county,” Rockdale County Commissioner Sherri Washington told reporters at a news conference Monday.
The federal lawsuit will declare BioLab and its parent company, KIK Consumer Products, a public liability and will seek damages for residents and local businesses affected by the fire, K11 Alive reported.
The September fire and chemical release was the fourth major incident reported at the BioLab facility in Conyers since 2004, the report said.
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“For three weeks, I have listened to the numerous physical, mental and emotional tolls that this company’s negligence has caused our residents, and we want them gone,” Washington said at the news conference. “I will fight until my last breath to have them removed.”
Washington told reporters that the purpose of the lawsuit is to “prove that no corporation is above the law and that no profit is worth the price of the community’s well-being.”
In addition to forcing residents to evacuate and shelter in place, the fire also forced local schools and businesses to close. The release of the toxic chemicals created health concerns for the area and kept the shelter-in-place order in place until last week for those living and working within a two-mile radius of the plant.
A federal investigation remains ongoing into the cause of the fire along with how the company responded to the incident. Fox5 in Atlanta reported that the company’s sprinkler system showered water onto water-reactive chemicals, which released toxic plumes into the air.
Washington said Monday that BioLab officials have not been forthcoming since the incident. According to reports, the company was invited to participate in a news conference last week but declined. Washington said that the company also had not made an effort to reimburse the county for the cost of fighting the fire.
