ROBERTA, Ga. — The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) says it's investigating a chemical reaction at a Crawford County plant.
It led to a "shelter-in-place" order for about three hours in Roberta on Thursday.
Crawford County Fire Chief Randy Pate says they're continuing to monitor the plant.
A Georgia EPD spokesperson says the chemical reaction is now contained on a concrete slab.
They'll dispose of the chemicals once the reaction actually stops.
"We're just standing by monitoring. That's all," Pate said.
Pate says they got the call from the Olin Proxy Plant around 9:15 Thursday morning.
People downtown, about a mile from the plant, say they could smell a strong odor, like something electrical burning.
Right before noon Thursday, nearly three hours after the call was originally made, the county issued a "shelter-in-place " order out of precaution. Pate says it took them that amount of time after first responders were dispatched to make a plan.
"We always like to have our ducks in the row. We don't want to say 'We should have done this. We should have done that,"' Pate said.
"Basically, what we were doing is just saying 'hey, we have an event. We're wanting the public to know to stay indoors so we can evaluate things," Vlcek said.
Georgia EPD says an employee triggered the reaction when mixing an unknown amount of an epoxy hardener in a vessel containing epoxy resin. Those materials are used to make lines or markings on roadways.
The reaction produced smoke from the container’s lid. The agency says the fire department sprayed water on the outer shell of the metal vessel to cool the reactants and slow the chemical reaction.
"Were those chemicals dangerous to the public if combined together?" 13WMAZ asked.
"I don't know if I can say that," Vlcek said.
Lawrence Vlcek, plant manager at the Robert Olin location, says the company plans to launch their own investigation.
"...to ensure these kinds of things are put to bed and don't happen again," Vlcek said about the internal investigation.
Georgia EPD says the last inspection of the plant happened in 2018. At that time, four violations were documented and corrected.
Olin sent 13WMAZ a statement on the incident:
"We continue to monitor the situation that began Thursday morning at our Roberta, Georgia facility. While there was never a fire, we continue to take every precaution and necessary measures to ensure the situation returns to normal. We continue to work closely with local emergency responders and deeply appreciate their cooperation and support – from the precautionary and temporary community shelter in place yesterday to the ongoing efforts today. The safety of our employees, the community, and our environment is always our top priority.”