CONYERS, Ga. (AP) — More than 90,000 residents in a county east of Atlanta were told to keep sheltering in place Monday and businesses were told to stay closed a day after a chemical plant fire sent a massive plume of dark smoke high into the sky that could been seen from miles away.
Air quality surveys done by the Environmental Protection Agency and the state Environmental Protection Division “revealed the harmful irritant chlorine” detected in the air from the fire at the BioLab plant in Conyers, Georgia, the Rockdale County Government said in statement early Monday.
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“For everyone sheltering in place, the best practice is to turn the air conditioning off and keep windows and doors shut,” the statement said of the accident that has affected the entire county.
The fire was brought under control around 4 p.m. Sunday, officials said.
Interstate 20, which was shut down in both directions in the area on Sunday, was reopened Monday morning, officials said.