ATLANTA — As a chemical plume continues to spew over Conyers following a fire Sunday at a BioLab facility, many in Atlanta on Monday morning reported the smell of chlorine in the air.
The City of Conyers has been evacuated and all of surrounding Rockdale County is under a shelter in place advisory.
In Atlanta, Mayor Andre Dickens responded to a post about the chlorine smell by saying fire personnel were going around with detectors to see what's in the air.
"We have been made aware," the mayor said in a response to Anthony Michael Kreis, a Georgia State law professor. "Atlanta Fire Rescue is going out with detectors to various spots east to see what is in the air. The assumption is a change of the wind direction blowing some of the Conyers fire residuals our way. We will push out messaging as we get more info."
The plume emanating from the site in Conyers was still substantial Monday morning, traffic cameras showed.
In a statement, a spokesperson for BioLab said representatives are "actively responding" to the situation. The spokesperson said employees "are accounted for with no injuries reported." BioLab said it has a team is on the scene, working with first responders and local authorities to assess and contain the situation.
"As always, the safety of our community remains our top priority," the statement read.
More on Conyers chemical plume | What happened?
County officials said that around 5 a.m., a sprinkler head malfunctioned, causing a mixture with a "water-reactive chemical," which in turn started a small fire on the building's roof. That fire was contained and put out, but reignited around noon. The fire was again put out around 3:30 in the afternoon.
The continuing chemical plume emanating from the site is, officials said, the result of water continuing to react with chemicals.
Rockdale officials stated this is the third incident at the facility in seven years involving products mixing with water and causing a chemical reaction.
Similar incidents have happened in the past, including a sizable one in 2004.
What is BioLab?
According to its website, BioLab is based in Lawrenceville and is the "swimming pool and spa water care division of KIK Consumer Products."
The company makes brands, including BioGuard and SpaGuard, that it says "pioneered computerized water testing and the 3-step system for pool and spa care."
RELATED: BioLab in Conyers had similar chemical fire, smoke plume situation in 2004 | Here's what happened
A similar fire and resulting chemical plume happened at a BioLab building in Conyers in 2004 -- it's unclear if the current situation is at the exact same site or perhaps a newer building.
BioLab back in 2004 was owned by Chemtura, a conglomerate that went into bankruptcy and was later acquired by a German company called Lanxess. BioLab is now owned by KIK Consumer Products, according to its website, in a sale from Chemtura a few years before that Chemtura was acquired by Lanxess.