In the early morning hours of September 29, 2024, I watched the sky turn blood red. The eerie morning glow wasn’t the result of a wildfire or a strange celestial anomaly; it was caused by the largest chemical plant explosion Conyers had ever seen.
As emergency vehicles sped down I‑20, residents loaded their cars with pets and suitcases, and tried to outrun the towering plume of smoke. But escaping the dense, acrid air, thick with the sharp stench of chlorine, was nearly impossible.
And for this predominantly Black and working-class community, it was a terrifying case of déjà vu where once again, their lives and health were being sacrificed for corporate profit.
The Human Cost of Toxic Air
The BioLab plant in Conyers, Georgia, a manufacturer of pool and spa chemicals, has exploded several times in recent years, but the disastrous effects of the September 2024 explosion stretched far beyond Rockdale County lines…