A Toxic Explosion in Private Equity Payouts

[Passages]

Private equity barons just pocketed as much as $850 million from the company behind this week’s massive chemical blast in Georgia.

by Maureen Tkacik, Luke Goldstein October 2, 2024

While attention has rightly been paid to the devastation of western North Carolina and other areas in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, a non-natural disaster in the southeast that appears to be unrelated to the storm transpired simultaneously. Over the weekend, a chemical plant in Conyers, Georgia exploded in a massive warzone-level blast. Billowing clouds of smoke could be seen from miles away. The nearby stretch of the I-20 highway shut down, 17,000 residents have been evacuated, and another 90,000 have been ordered to shelter in place. That order was reimposed Tuesday morning after briefly lifting, when a weather change blew the toxic clouds back over a populated area.

There are conflicting indications from authorities about safety and air quality. According to local reporting, residents are already exhibiting symptoms such as shortness of breath, lung tightness, coughing, and eye irritation. A law firm is investigating the matter and offering free consultations with affected residents, advising a local news site that victims “may be entitled to compensation.”

But will the company that owns the plant have any cash left over for the victims of its negligence? A cursory look at its capital structure raises doubts.

The explosion came from a facility owned by the swimming pool and spa water treatment manufacturer BioLab Inc., which itself is owned by the private equity firm Centerbridge Partners. The plant has a long recent history of explosions, fires and workplace safety violations. Four years ago, a similar explosion at another plant in Georgia subsumed the vicinity in a chlorine vapor cloud, just one month after a major fire at a BioLab plant in Louisiana triggered a nationwide shortage of pool products.
https://prospect.org/power/2024-10-02-conyers-biolab-explosion-private-equity/