RELATED: Conyers chemical plume | Shelter-in-place lifted for most of county except for those within 2-mile radius of facility
11Alive reached out to the crisis communication team handling PR for Biolab, but as of Monday night, there has been no response on why they did not appear.
During Monday's news conference, Rockdale County Chairman Oz Nesbitt Sr. said that they have crews on the ground at the scene trying to get the situation completely under control.
"We still have a crisis, so we're still in the middle of crisis management," Nesbitt Sr. said.
BioLab has not confirmed how the fire started in its 275,000 square foot warehouse on the morning of Sept. 29. However, Rockdale County Fire said it was a malfunctioning sprinkler head that released water onto chlorine stored in the warehouse, which caused a chemical reaction that sparked the fire.
"We're working with very hazardous materials," Rick Jardine with the Environmental Protection Agency explained during the news conference
Jardine said, "It's an uncontrolled chemical, so they're not in containers, they're not in the building, we can't shut the doors."
The intensity of the fire caused the roof of the large facility to collapse and the walls to fall in which trapped the chemicals underneath.
Biolab hasn't confirmed all the materials that were being stored in the warehouse but stated:
"These raw materials include Trichlor (TCCA), a chemical commonly used to make Chlorinated Tablets to treat swimming pools to kill bacteria and algae, and Dichlor (DCCA), used to make swimming pool shock. Other raw materials stored are used to produce products for swimming pool and spa maintenance, such as water balance, pH control and water clarity."
On Monday, at the suggestion of the EPA due to air quality concerns, Rockdale County issued a shelter-in-place for a two mile radius around the facility until further notice.
This past Friday, the Rockdale County Sheriff wrote a letter to businesses immediately around the facility in the area of Blacklawn Road and Olympic Court to remain closed due to the off-gassing still happening at the facility. The letter indicated the amount of chlorine in the air is unsafe for long-term exposure.
The county issued a mandatory evacuation for the same area on Monday after the EPA said several businesses tried to reopen their doors.