"Skin rashes, breathing difficulties and “generational rage” led residents to join a nationwide push against companies accused of endangering health and the environment."
"In late September, a massive billow of smoke from a chemical fire spread over metro Atlanta, lingering for weeks and prompting national news coverage.
The smoke has cleared, but the anger has not dissipated in Conyers, the city of 20,000 where the fire occurred, and in surrounding areas. (Conyers lies 24 miles east of downtown Atlanta.) Smoke from the blaze left some residents with breathing difficulties, headaches, dizziness and skin rashes in the days that followed, along with a deepening worry about their community’s safety.
The fire was pool-chemical company BioLab’s fourth in the last two decades, a track record that has created what one observer described as “generational rage” among residents. Some are now turning to activism for the first time, joined by Atlanta-area, mostly Black-led community groups. The population of Conyers is nearly two-thirds Black, causing some in the community to argue that the repeated industrial accidents at the BioLab facility are an example of environmental racism.
The result: an unusually fast-growing grassroots movement led by residents fed up with a company that they say has jeopardized their health and the environment for decades. They also blame local, state and federal authorities for failing to inform the community about the accident’s cause and impact in a timely or transparent manner. Many residents want to see the BioLab facility, which is one of the largest employers in town, permanently shut down. Short of that, they seek to prevent future accidents."
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