BioLab Fire Lawsuit: Class Action and Medical Monitoring

The BioLab fire lawsuit is a consolidated federal class action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia covering people harmed by the September 29, 2024 chemical fire and toxic plume at the BioLab plant in Conyers, and its ultimate size and value now depend on a pending Georgia Supreme Court decision on medical monitoring. Rockdale County, an insurance company, and sheriff’s deputies have filed their own separate suits against BioLab and its parent, KIK Consumer Products.

The Consolidated Class Action

The first two class complaints were filed on September 30, 2024, the day after the fire. One was brought by Fannie and Albert Tartt; the other by Tonya Long through Morgan & Morgan.¹² Dozens more followed. By November 2024 the court consolidated 21 class actions under In re Bio-Lab Class Actions, Case No. 1:24-cv-04407, before U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Geraghty.³

Four attorneys were appointed as interim co-lead class counsel: Jason Carter of Bondurant Mixson & Elmore, Daniel Rock Flynn of DiCello Levitt, Jean Martin of Morgan & Morgan, and L. Chris Stewart of Stewart Miller Simmons. James Bilsborrow of Weitz & Luxenberg was named to the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee.³ An amended consolidated complaint was filed on January 10, 2025, joining the Tartt plaintiffs with TT of Conyers, Inc. and Pittman Construction Company as class representatives.⁴

Who’s Covered

One complaint defined the proposed class as everyone who resided, owned property, or earned income within Rockdale County as of September 29, 2024, with the plaintiffs reserving the right to amend that definition after discovery.² At its broadest, plaintiffs’ attorneys have described a “punitive class” potentially reaching roughly two million people living within 25 miles of the plant.⁵ About 17,000 people were ordered to evacuate on the day of the fire and roughly 90,000 more were told to shelter in place.⁶

Claims and Damages

The consolidated complaint alleges negligence, nuisance, trespass, and strict liability. Plaintiffs say BioLab stored massive quantities of water-reactive chemicals in super sacks on warehouse floors without adequate safety measures, ignored a documented history of sprinkler-system corrosion, and lacked an effective emergency response plan.⁷ Damages sought include medical expenses, lost wages, emotional distress, property damage, diminished property values, and punitive damages.

Reported harms among residents include respiratory problems, nasal irritation, nausea, dizziness, and eye and skin irritation, with longer-term concerns about cardiovascular, neurological, and cancer-related risks. The EPA confirmed the plume contained chlorine.⁸

The Medical-Monitoring Question at the Georgia Supreme Court

The single biggest open question in the class action is whether exposed residents who aren’t currently sick can still obtain court-ordered medical monitoring. Judge Geraghty certified the question to the Georgia Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments on April 21, 2026.⁹ Chief Justice Nels S.D. Peterson and Justice Shawn Ellen LaGrua recused themselves, leaving seven justices to decide.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce filed amicus briefs opposing medical monitoring for people who are not currently ill.⁹ Plaintiffs’ attorneys expect a ruling by July 2026. The outcome will shape both the scope and the value of the class action, because it determines whether the roughly 100,000 residents who were evacuated or told to shelter in place can pursue ongoing medical surveillance without a diagnosed condition.⁵

What BioLab Is Accused of Doing Wrong

The warehouse held about 13.9 million pounds of oxidizers — trichloroisocyanuric acid (TCCA), sodium dichloroisocyanurate (DCCA), and the bromine compound BCDMH — in 2,750-pound “super sacks” that were not segregated. That inventory was more than double the 6.2 million pounds the facility had originally planned for when it began storing TCCA in 2019.¹⁰ Plant officials indicated that a faulty sprinkler head allowed water to mix with the reactive chemicals and set off the chain reaction.¹¹ The U.S. Chemical Safety Board later identified a pattern of recurrent corrosion in the fire-protection system going back to when TCCA storage began, noting that most sprinkler heads outside a reinforced bunker area were still made of corrosion-prone brass at the time of the fire.¹²

The Conyers plant also had a track record. A May 2004 warehouse fire led to a $7 million settlement fund approved in January 2011 while then-parent Chemtura Corp. was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.¹³ In September 2020, Hurricane Laura damage let rainwater reach stored chemicals and produced another chlorine vapor cloud.¹⁴ OSHA cited the facility in 2013 and 2019, and in January 2024, months before the fire, the EPA issued nine enforcement actions for waste-management and storage violations.¹⁵

Rockdale County’s Separate Suit

In October 2024, Rockdale County filed its own federal suit against BioLab, KIK International, and KIK Consumer Products, alleging Clean Air Act violations, negligence, and public and private nuisance.¹⁶ The county sought economic damages, compensation for decreased property values, long-term community health impacts, civil penalties, and an order permanently closing the plant.¹⁷

In September 2025, Judge Geraghty narrowed the case. She dismissed the Clean Air Act claim without prejudice because the county failed to give the required 60-day notice before suing, and ruled that Georgia’s “free public services doctrine” bars recovery of emergency-response costs like firefighting, air and water monitoring, evacuations, and public alerts. The negligence and nuisance claims survived.¹⁸

Insurance and Deputies’ Suits

Individual residents are not the only ones suing. In November 2025, Verlan Fire Insurance Company, a Hanover Insurance Group subsidiary, sued BioLab, KIK Custom, and KIK International in the Northern District of Georgia to recover more than $20.3 million already paid to its insured Diversitech Holdings, a nearby HVAC supplier damaged by the fire and plume. The insurer also seeks the $100,000 policy deductible, future claim payments, interest, and attorney fees, alleging negligence and recklessness in chemical storage and handling and inadequate fire suppression and emergency planning.¹⁹²⁰

Rockdale County sheriff’s deputies have also filed a separate suit against BioLab over the chemical exposure they experienced during the response.⁵

Regulator Findings the Lawsuits Rely On

In late March 2025, OSHA cited BioLab for four serious and two other-than-serious violations, proposing $61,473 in penalties, and determined that improperly stored hazardous chemicals caused the fire.²¹ BioLab initially contested the citations but later withdrew its objection.¹⁷ The U.S. Chemical Safety Board released a detailed second update in May 2025 and remains investigating.²² The EPA led emergency air monitoring from September 29 to October 17, 2024, before handing oversight to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.²³

Cleanup, Plant Closure, and What They Mean for Recovery

On May 15, 2025, BioLab announced it had completed environmental remediation and would permanently end manufacturing at the Conyers facility, citing “ongoing production challenges and future business considerations.”⁷ The involved warehouse was demolished.¹² About 100 jobs remain at a distribution center on the site.

The company’s claim that cleanup is finished is disputed. As of June 2025, the Georgia EPD said negotiations over a formal cleanup plan were still ongoing, and independent environmental investigator Scott Smith has alleged the testing methods used were not designed to detect the full range of potentially hazardous byproducts, including dioxins and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.²⁴²⁵²⁶

1
CourtListener. In Re Bio-Lab Class Actions
2
ClassAction.org. Long v. Bio-Lab Inc. et al.
3
Weitz & Luxenberg. Georgia BioLab Chemical Plant Fire
4
CourtListener. In Re Bio-Lab Class Actions — Page 2
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Atlanta News First. Georgia Supreme Court to Decide if BioLab Exposure Victims Can Seek Medical Monitoring
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ABC7. Conyers BioLab Fire: Interstate Closed Outside Atlanta as Georgia Residents Evacuate
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Atlanta News First. BioLab Ending Manufacturing at Conyers Plant
8
Morehouse School of Medicine. BioLab Fire Study
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CBS News Atlanta. Georgia Supreme Court to Hear Arguments Over BioLab Warehouse Fire Class Action Lawsuit
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U.S. Chemical Safety Board. U.S. Chemical Safety Board Issues Second Update
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Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein. BioLab Conyers Chemical Fire
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U.S. Chemical Safety Board. Chemical Decomposition, Fire, and Toxic Gas Release at Bio-Lab, Inc. — Update II
13
Pool & Spa News. Settlement Reached Over 2004 BioLab Blaze
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FireRescue1. Records: GA Chemical Plant Had a History of Fires and Leaks
15
Office of U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock. Oversight Letter to BioLab Regarding September 2024 Fire
16
Rockdale County, Georgia. Rockdale County Issues Statement on Bio-Lab Fire Litigation
17
HealthBeat. BioLab Fire Chemical Lawsuit
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GPB News. Federal Judge Says Rockdale County Can’t Recoup Emergency Costs From BioLab Fire
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CBS News Atlanta. Insurance Company Sues BioLab for Over $20 Million
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WSB-TV. BioLab Sued for $20 Million by Insurance Company
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U.S. Department of Labor. OSHA Cites Bio-Lab Inc.
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U.S. Chemical Safety Board. Bio-Lab Inc. Conyers Fire and Chemical Release
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U.S. EPA. Conyers, GA BioLab Fire
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GPB News. One Year After the BioLab Fire in Conyers, Investigations Continue
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GPB News. Manufacturing Danger: The BioLab Story
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Loyens & Loeff. KIK Custom Products Strengthens Liquidity With USD 150 Million Financing