ROCKDALE COUNTY, Ga. — For many Rockdale County residents, a new federal report detailing alleged mistakes by Biolab ahead of a 2024 fire confirmed beliefs they had all along.
“It took a long time to confirm for what everybody already knew,” Chris Lovejoy said.
Lovejoy operated a business right across the street from Biolab. However, after the fire, smoke seems to have caused discoloration in the paint of his building and left dozens of tools, vehicles and more inoperable.
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“Everything you see is us trying to come back and repurchase everything for 27 years, every tool, every truck, our storage crates, pretty much everything,” Lovejoy said.
The 148-page federal report detailed numerous mistakes.
They include storing more than 14 million pounds of reactive chemicals when they told authorities they expected to house around 6.2 million pounds.
The report found Biolab stored chemicals in supersacks that were not watertight and were in a building that, nine months earlier, was found more than 1,100 sprinkler heads with noticeable corrosion.
“I’ve been doing this 15 years. I’ve honestly never seen something like this, that something this grossly, extremely negligent,” Alan Holcomb, an attorney, said.
Attorney Alan Holcomb represents two deputies and a Rockdale resident who claim the chemical plume caused by the fire caused severe lung damage.
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He says the report is the independent exclamation point on claims that show a negligent facility.
“This is not a company that made a mistake here and there. They’re essentially misrepresenting to the government what they’re doing in their own plant,” Holcomb said.
Independent attorneys like Andrew Beal say the report will likely help lawsuits that have already been filed.
“It will be extremely important because they’re neutral and they are experts,” Beal said. “I do think it will add a lot of fire, if you will, to the litigation that’s already pending.”
Beal says the details of the report will make the defense of Biolab more difficult, especially because of the sheer number of mistakes.
“You’ve got problems all over the place in the way you built the facility, in the way you got permits for the facility, and the way you constructed the fire retardant system,” Beal said.
Tuesday, Biolab said it is still reviewing the final report.
A spokesperson wrote to Channel 2 Action News stating, “The health and safety of the communities where we operate is a top priority, and we worked collaboratively with first responders and relevant authorities to complete the emergency response in October 2024. We also completed the clean-up of the site affected by the fire and established resources dedicated to supporting area residents and business owners.”
However, for those like Lovejoy, he says Biolab’s actions have failed to make up for the harm they have done.
“They had their chance; now we take them to court,” Lovejoy said.
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