Company decides not to rebuild chlorine plant with history of fires, explosions and toxic clouds
CONYERS, Ga. (AP) — The company that operated a Georgia chlorine plant with a history of explosions, chemical fires and toxic clouds that have drifted over neighborhoods outside Atlanta has decided not to rebuild the main manufacturing facility in Conyers.
In a statement, BioLab Inc. said it has been unable to resume manufacturing operations in Conyers after the most recent catastrophe on Sept. 29.
'After taking steps to meet customer needs through alternative production, and in considering our future business needs carefully, we have made the difficult decision not to restart manufacturing at the Conyers plant,' it said.
Though manufacturing won't restart, the company's Conyers distribution center will remain operational and fill customer orders for products from other manufacturing facilities, BioLab said.
'We take our role in Conyers very seriously, and as we move forward, the safety and wellbeing of the Conyers community remain a top priority.'
The September fire sent a huge plume of orange and black smoke into the Georgia sky, forcing nearby residents to shelter in place, leading to classes canceled for schoolchildren and the closure of a major interstate.
Last month, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board released an update on its investigation. The company improperly stored hazardous chemicals, federal authorities said. BioLab was cited for six violations, including four serious ones, and more than $60,000 in proposed penalties, the U.S. Department of Labor said.
BioLab makes chemicals that kill algae and bacteria in water, primarily for swimming pools and hot tubs. The company is a subsidiary of Lawrenceville, Georgia-based KIK Consumer Products.
Its Conyers plant is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of downtown Atlanta.
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Gizmodo
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While MSU explored potentially hiring from the private business sector, Guskiewicz said Batt's experience in recruiting donors along with having been a Division I athlete and a sitting athletic director made him uniquely qualified to lead MSU into the changing world of college athletics. 'He's walked the sidelines. He's been on the sidelines as an athlete himself, but also spending a lot of time with coaches — and some really good coaches,' Guskiewicz said. 'But he understands the business side, the corporate side of this. And so I think we got the best of both (worlds).' Advertisement Hall of Fame MSU basketball coach Tom Izzo, who served as co-interim athletic director after Haller's removal on May 1, flew to Atlanta to meet with Batt and had an initial 'gut-check' that Batt was the right fit. He also consulted with former Spartans and Alabama football coach Nick Saban as well as current Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner Jim Phillips, who told Izzo that MSU 'hit a home run' with Batt. Michigan State Athletic Director J Batt, middle, and wife Leah share a laugh with MSU basketball coach Tom Izzo, right, Wednesday, June 4, 2025, before Batt was introduced as the Spartan's new athletic director. And Izzo felt the connection between Batt and Guskiewicz is important. 'The same reason I really liked Kevin when I first interviewed him on the committee, the first thing he said is, 'I love to fundraise.' And I said, 'Any president that says that, he gets a vote from me and he gets a 'what the hell's wrong with you?' Because nobody likes to fundraise,'' Izzo said. 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Batt had signed a contract extension at Georgia Tech in December that ran through 2029, so that was part of the reason he initially did not appear in play for MSU. But Guskiewicz joked that, 'Just the fact that he took my call when I was told he wouldn't, that was a good start.' Now, the synergy between the two — once mentor and student, now becoming a working relationship — will be critical to try and return MSU to national visibility and prominence. Advertisement 'He certainly knows what high level intercollegiate athletics looks like at a championship level, and I have full faith and trust in him,' Batt said of Guskiewicz. 'And so when he made that call through the search firm, it was one of those — 'Absolutely.' 'I certainly can tell you that there's lots more to learn, but it's a heck of a starting place.' Contact Chris Solari: csolari@ Follow him @chrissolari. Subscribe to the "Spartan Speak" podcast for new episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State AD J Batt praises Spartans: 'A top-10 athletic department'
Geek Wire
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AIM raises $50M to retrofit bulldozers and excavators to operate autonomously
GeekWire's startup coverage documents the Pacific Northwest entrepreneurial scene. Sign up for our weekly startup newsletter , and check out the GeekWire funding tracker and venture capital directory . (Photo via AIM) AIM Intelligent Machines (AIM), a Seattle-area startup that retrofits heavy earthmoving machinery to operate autonomously, raised $50 million in new funding, the company announced Tuesday. Investors include Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst, Human Capital, Ironspring Ventures, Mantis, DCVC, and Elad Gil, among others. AIM's technology platform accommodates heavy equipment such as bulldozers and excavators, regardless of make, model, size or age. The intent is to improve safety and productivity in extreme working conditions, such as mining. Semafor reported that AIM attaches the same sensors that power many self-driving cars to machinery to build a real-time, three-dimensional map of the equipment's surroundings. An edge compute system then takes over the controls to dig, haul, plow, fill, and level the ground without a human in the driver's seat. One person can remotely manage an entire site of working vehicles. The Bellevue, Wash.-based startup, which employs about 40 people, was founded in 2021 and built by engineers with experience at Waymo, SpaceX, Google, Stripe, Tesla and Apple. 'Everything is either mined or grown, and efficient earthmoving is required for both,' CEO Adam Sadilek said in a statement. 'Since the introduction of hydraulic machines like excavators in the 1800s, mining and construction have seen little of the automation that's transformed other industries. These are still among the most dangerous jobs in the world, and outcomes aren't getting better fast enough. AIM is changing that.' Driving by labor shortages and demand for efficiency, the autonomous construction equipment market is expected to grow from $4.43 billion in 2024 to $9.86 billion by 2030. Seattle startup Carbon Robotics recently revealed its latest product, the Carbon AutoTractor, an AI-powered, autonomous platform designed to fit on and control existing equipment for farming.
