Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Georgia KIK Bio-Lab Fire Caused by Inadequate Safety Measures

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges that inadequate industrial safety procedures at the KIK Bio-Lab plant in Conyers, Georgia, led to a catastrophic chemical fire that emitted a toxic chemical plume into the surrounding community.

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The 59-page lawsuit claims that Bio-Lab, Inc., KIK Consumer Products and private equity firm Centerbridge negligently failed to ensure that reactive chlorinated pool chemicals in the Conyers Bio-Lab plant were properly handled and stored, which led to a catastrophic fire on September 29, 2024 that released a “toxic chemical plume” of chlorine and other hazardous compounds into the nearby community, injuring residents and damaging property.

According to the suit, the Bio-Lab plant, located at 1700 Covington Highway, processed, packaged and stored chlorine-based pool and spa chemicals, including highly reactive compounds such as trichloroisocyanuric acid (TCCA).

The lawsuit asserts that Bio-Lab, KIK and Centerbridge operated the plant with “a shocking disregard for safety” and failed to implement “essential” safety protocols for handling chlorinated pool treatment chemicals like TCCA. When exposed to water, the case explains, TCCA undergoes an exothermic chemical reaction that generates significant heat and releases toxic and flammable gases—namely, chlorine gas and nitrogen trichloride—into the atmosphere.

The filing claims that the September 2024 Bio-Lab fire was initially extinguished, but the building’s sprinkler system sprayed water onto TCCA and other reactive chemicals stored there, triggering an explosive chemical reaction that released massive amounts of poisonous smoke into the surrounding area.

Per the suit, the incident required an “immediate and widespread emergency response” and caused the closure of nearby Interstate 20. Furthermore, about 17,000 residents were forced to evacuate their homes, while approximately 90,000 residents were impacted by a shelter-in-place order in Rockdale County due to the fire, the case states. The catastrophic incident “disrupted the daily lives of tens of thousands of Georgia residents and businesses,” the complaint says. 

To make matters worse, the case says, the fire “did not occur in isolation,” as emergency responders had responded to at least four similar incidents at the Bio-Lab plant between 2004 and 2020.

“These previous incidents, along with the Conyers Plant’s history of regulatory violations and enforcement actions, must have indicated to the [d]efendants the hazards associated with the storage, handling, and processing of chlorinated pool-treatment chemicals at the Conyers Plant,” the lawsuit argues.

The suit further alleges that the companies failed to maintain critical fire prevention systems, properly store and handle hazardous chemicals, train staff and personnel, and develop effective emergency response procedures.

The case relays that the Centers for Disease Control’s Medical Management Guidelines for Chlorine state that chlorine gas is “irritating and corrosive to the eyes, skin, and respiratory tract.”

Hundreds of residents near the Conyers plant suffered from a litany of symptoms consistent with exposure to chlorine gas following the fire and toxic chemical plume, including respiratory symptoms, eye and throat irritation, skin issues, aggravated medical conditions, and more, the filing says. More than 700 residents placed calls to the Georgia Poison Center regarding exposure to the toxic smoke, per the case.

The lawsuit charges that after Centerbridge acquired KIK, the private equity firm engaged in “years of careless asset-stripping” that resulted in a lack of industrial safety measures to prevent the September 2024 incident and others.

The KIK Bio-Lab class action lawsuit looks to cover all persons and entities who resided, owned, leased or occupied property, or who worked at or operated businesses within a 25-mile radius of the Conyers plant, or who were subject to evacuation orders, shelter-in-place directives, or related advisories issued as a result of the September 29, 2024 fire and toxic chemical release from the Conyers plant, and who thereby sustained property damage, economic loss, loss of use and enjoyment of property, business interruption, and other legally compensable damages.

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