LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA - AUGUST 27: Smoke is seen rising from what is reported to be a chemical plant fire after Hurricane Laura passed through the area on August 27, 2020 in Lake Charles, Louisiana . The hurricane hit with powerful winds causing extensive damage to the city. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Christopher Helman Forbes Staff • August 27, 2020
A chemicals plant is on fire this morning in Lake Charles, Louisiana — the worst apparent damage so far in the wake of Hurricane Laura, which roared ashore last night as a category 4 storm with 150 mph winds.
The plant on fire is confirmed by company representatives to be owned by BioLab, a subsidiary of privately held KIKCorp. It has historically manufactured chlorine-based products including toilet bowl tablets, chlorinating granules and biocides. According to eyewitness videos, thick smoke is billowing north across Interstate-10.
According to 2019 Louisiana state environmental regulatory documents, the BioLab site produces 115 million pounds per year of trichloroisocyanuric acid and disodium isocyanurate, biocides and disinfectants. The plant is already considered to be a major emitter of air pollutants including sulfur dioxide and volatile organic compounds. BioLab’s Lake Charles site was built in 1979, and acquired by KIK, a leading supplier of pool chemicals, in 2013.
Louisiana state Fire Marshall Butch Browning said at a press conference Thursday that there appeared to be limited danger to the public. "The cloud, the plume, as it goes in the air and moves out there is chlorine in that, obviously, but that those chemicals are falling in the lake, which is the right place for it because it dilutes the chlorine. So that, we don't believe, is endangering anyone."
Adjacent to the BioLab site is a plant operated by Lonza Group, which manufactures dimethyl hydrazine (a rocket propellant) for the U.S. government. A spokesperson for Lonza confirms that their plant was unaffected by the fire.
Other damage in Lake Charles includes the majority of windows blown out on the Capital One building, exterior damage to the Golden Nugget casino (owned by billionaire Tilman Fertitta) and the apparent unmooring of the Isle of Capri riverboat casino, now lodged under the Calcasieu bridge.
Smoke rises from a burning chemical plant after the passing of Hurricane Laura in Lake Charles, Louisiana on August 27, 2020. - Hurricane Laura slammed into the southern US state of Louisiana Thursday and the monster category 4 storm prompted warnings of "unsurvivable" ocean surges and evacuation orders for hundreds of thousands of Gulf Coast residents. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said "extremely dangerous" Laura would bring winds of 150 miles per hour (240 kilometers per hour) and "destructive waves will cause catastrophic damage" to Louisiana and Texas. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)