Update on Sept. 30, 2024 @ 2:40 p.m.
The Hall County School District (HCSD) and Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) will proceed as scheduled.
“According to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), the detected chemical levels are not expected to pose a significant risk to most individuals. As a result, outdoor after-school extracurricular activities will proceed as planned,” HCSD’s Stan Lewis said in an email.
Lewis added that parents of children with health conditions can keep their children indoors as a precaution.
GCPS said there are no advisories from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (Georgia EPD) at this time regarding air quality.
They do recommend checking with your local school for the most up-to-date schedules.
The air quality is 67 in Lawrenceville and Gainesville according to airnow.gov, which is considered “moderate.”
Original story posted on Sept. 30, 2024 @ 1 p.m.
Jeremy Williams, the superintendent for Gainesville City Schools, said in an email to AccessWDUN that due to the shifting winds there will be no outdoor activities during the school day on Monday.
Stan Lewis with Hall County Schools also added that there will be no outdoor activities today. They are in contact with the Governor's office and local emergency officials regarding next steps.
Social media posts from Gwinnett County's Fire and Emergency Services indicated Monday morning that they received calls from residents in parts of the county reporting haze and a chemical smell believed to be related to the BioLab chemical plant fire in Rockdale County.
A low-pressure weather system has pushed fog into the area, and a lack of wind is causing the smell to linger, according to Gwinnett Fire and Emergency Services post. The smell should dissipate in a couple of hours as the wind direction shifts.
The current air quality in Gainesville is 59, which is considered "moderate" according to airnow.gov.
Gwinnett County's Emergency Management Agency is closely monitoring the situation, and awaiting guidance from the EPA as to any hazards that may be present in this smoke. As a precaution on Monday morning, Gwinnett County Public Schools have canceled all outdoor activities and events and have stopped outside air from entering school buildings. A spokesman for the Gwinnett County School system told Fox 5 News in Atlanta through a statement, "Until the air quality improves, we encourage all families and staff to limit time outside, and keep windows and doors shut."
The issue stems from a chemical fire at a Rockdale County BioLab facility on Sunday, which had a reignition briefly later in the day, causing a plume of chlorine and chemical smoke to linger over the Rockdale County area, visible from several miles away.
Rockdale County Fire Chief Marian McDaniel explained that the large plume of smoke seen by residents is due to a chemical reaction. Cleanup efforts are still underway at the site. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Georgia's Environmental Protection Division (EPD) are working to assess any health or environmental risks that may be the result from the fire.
Officials still have not identified the chemical responsible for the reaction, but an update on Monday morning said that the irritant chlorine was detected in the air emitting from the incident location of BioLab.
