Georgia lawmakers, advocates cite BioLab fire in fight over federal chemical safety rules

Supporters of stronger chemical safety regulations are pointing to the 2024 BioLab fire in Conyers as they push back against congressional efforts to change the nation’s primary law governing hazardous chemicals.

Earlier this year, members of Congress considered amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act, which authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate dangerous chemicals. Business groups argue the current law places unnecessary burdens on innovation, while environmental and public health advocates say weakening the statute would put communities at greater risk.

Sarah Vogel, senior vice president of healthy communities at the Environmental Defense Fund, said revisions made to the law in 2016 are finally beginning to remove dangerous chemicals from the marketplace. She warned that reopening the law could reverse that progress.

“We are concerned that there’s a concerted effort in Congress to reopen this law and to take measures that we think would significantly weaken it and leave the public unprotected,” Vogel said.

The debate comes months after a massive fire at BioLab’s Conyers facility forced thousands of residents from their homes and sent a chemical plume across parts of metro Atlanta. Georgia Tech researchers later identified 26 chemicals in the air following the incident.

State Sen. Tonya Anderson, D-Lithonia, whose district includes Conyers, said the BioLab disaster demonstrates why strong oversight remains necessary.

“If those protections are weakened, then you will have corporations falling back or doing as least as possible or minimal to maintain a standard of safety,” Anderson said. “We saw this with the BioLab.”

The fallout from the fire is still unfolding. Earlier this month, three people, including two sheriff’s deputies, sued BioLab, alleging the company ignored safety warnings for years and that they suffered lung injuries as a result of the disaster.

BioLab has since suspended production at its Conyers facility, and a compensation program has been established for people affected by the fire. Advocates say the incident underscores what could happen in other communities if federal chemical safety protections are weakened.