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Months after Georgia chemical plant fire, residents still grapple with health issues

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Residents of Georgia say they're having health problems after a fire in a chemical plant. The fire last fall released a toxic plume of chemicals near Atlanta, and we still don't know everything that was in it. Here's Pamela Kirkland with Georgia Public Broadcasting.

PAMELA KIRKLAND, BYLINE: Cheryl Garcia doesn't like the way she sounds these days.

CHERYL GARCIA: 'Cause this is not my voice. This is my BioLab voice.

KIRKLAND: She calls it her BioLab voice, blaming chemical exposure from the fire for irritating her throat and triggering her asthma. Garcia is a retired nurse practitioner. She and her husband live just a few miles from the BioLab plant, where chemicals for swimming pools and spas are produced. She said her primary care doctor was clear about the cause of her symptoms.

GARCIA: He put it on my medical record that it was due to chemical exposure.

KIRKLAND: She hadn't thought about her asthma in over a decade until the September fire.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: Rockdale County 911, how can I help you?

UNIDENTIFIED BIOLAB EMPLOYEE: We got a sprinkler head burst at BioLab.

KIRKLAND: The fire sent a massive plume of toxic smoke into the air, prompting 17,000 residents to evacuate and emergency responses from multiple agencies. Ninety thousand others, including Garcia, were told to shelter in place for two weeks, mostly at night. Reports of a chlorine odor stretched throughout metro Atlanta.

Researchers like Greg Huey at Georgia Tech say early tests found other chemicals in addition to chlorine in the plume. They found irritants like bromine and isocyanic acid that can cause symptoms like coughing and wheezing. His team is analyzing more air quality data and expects to share the findings in the coming weeks.

GREG HUEY: This might help people know what they're exposed to in this incident. But more importantly, if ever something like this happens again, we might have better ideas what to look for.

KIRKLAND: But it's not the first time there's been a fire at this BioLab. There have been five over the past 20 years. After the most recent fire, BioLab opened a community assistance center to handle claims and reimbursements for those affected by the fire. It's now closed. Cheryl Garcia and dozens of others signed onto a class action lawsuit against BioLab and its parent company KIK Consumer Products.

(CROSSTALK)

KIRKLAND: Community frustration with the company is growing. Around a hundred people attended a town hall last month to share their worries about lingering health problems.

SANDRA STEPHENS-JORDAN: I am so scared. I am so scared. I don't know what to do.

KIRKLAND: Sandra Stephens-Jordan told the crowd her house is just 4 miles away from BioLab. She had to shelter in place.

STEPHENS-JORDAN: I live in pain. I have pain every single day. And dealing with the BioLab thing happening, it has made my health even worse.

KIRKLAND: Georgia senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock recently sent a letter to KIK Consumer Products asking that they release debris test results, share reimbursement amounts and extend the deadline for people to make claims. In an email, the company says they're reviewing the letter and that BioLab will continue to work with the community. It also wants to work, quote, "constructively with authorities, regulators and elected officials." Meanwhile, Cheryl Garcia says she wants more oversight of chemical companies.

GARCIA: This is not just a Conyers problem. This is not just a Georgia problem. This is a national problem. (Coughing) Excuse me.

KIRKLAND: She's interrupted by a cough - a reminder, she says, of the BioLab fire.

For NPR News, I'm Pamela Kirkland in Conyers, Georgia.

(SOUNDBITE OF ASA'S "RUSSIAN CIRCLES") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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Pamela Kirkland
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