The Brief
- State officials reportedly warned a BioLab fire could have created cancer-causing chromium, but testing was later excluded
- Ash samples showed chromium levels far higher than initial readings, with no testing to identify the toxic form
- Residents say they were never warned despite evacuations, ash fallout, and health concerns
CONYERS, Ga. – New reporting by Pamela Kirkland of Georgia Public Broadcasting is raising new questions about whether dangerous pollution was fully tested for after the September 2024 BioLab chemical fire in Conyers.
After the fire, state environmental officials found higher-than-normal levels of chromium in ash samples. Chromium can occur naturally and is usually not harmful, but experts warn that extreme heat — like that from a chemical fire — can change it into hexavalent chromium, a cancer-causing substance made widely known in the movie Erin Brockovich.
Internal emails obtained by GPB from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division show a state environmental risk assessor warned that the fire created ideal conditions for that dangerous transformation. …