A Marietta chemical company has been fined $25,000 in connection with a massive fire that caused toxic chemicals to seep into a nearby waterway, killing thousands of fish for miles downstream.
Multiple explosions and towering flames consumed Amrep’s chemical warehouse the night of May 23. It took 75 to 100 firefighters from four departments eight hours to douse the blaze.
In the process, something oily and pungent washed down a storm drain and into Sope Creek, which feeds into the Chattahoochee River, according to a state biologist’s report. The next day, the creek stank of chemicals and had a dark, oily residue along part of its stream bank. Fish lay belly up or struggled to swim.
The report by James Hakala, of the state Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division, said chemicals killed an estimated 9,600 fish over almost six miles of Sope Creek. He also noted dead crayfish, salamanders, tadpoles and earthworms.
In an order issued earlier this month, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division said Amrep must pay a $25,000 fine for the fish kill. It remains unclear whether the culprit was Amrep’s chemicals, fire suppression foam or a combination of the two.
The Marietta Fire Department has yet to say what sparked the fire, saying the evidence was incinerated.
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