What’s next for neighbors living near Garden Grove factory at center of chemical scare?

A week after a damaged tank of toxic chemicals in Garden Grove forced nearly 50,000 evacuations, the immediate emergency is over. But residents who returned home have questions about what's next.

Officials lifted all evacuation orders Tuesday after averting what could have been a catastrophic explosion at GKN Aerospace facility in Garden Grove, which manufactures windows for military and civilian aircraft.

Now, many in Orange County are demanding answers about what went wrong, what cleanup will look like and how to make sure it never happens again. (And here's how you can find out if there is a facility like the Garden Grove chemical tank near you.)

Clamoring for accountability

At a tense public meeting in Garden Grove this week, residents raised concerns about emergency communication breakdowns, disaster price-gouging and the potential ongoing dangers of living near the GKN facility and those like it.

Dozens of plaintiffs have already filed at least seven lawsuits against GKN Aerospace over the debacle, the Orange County Register reported.

The Orange County District Attorney's Office has launched an investigation into the incident and set up an anonymous tip line.

Meanwhile, several left-wing activist groups are demanding the permanent shutdown of GKN Aerospace in Garden Grove. The activists, including representatives from Palestinian Youth Movement and Harbor Institute for Immigrant & Economic Justice, cite the recent disaster alongside the company’s role as a subcontractor manufacturing parts for fighter jets.

The city of Garden Grove has reported at least $728,000 in preliminary costs to the Orange County Fire Authority related to the GKN incident, Garden Grove public information officer Jonathan Garcia told LAist.

That doesn’t include the cost of water used at the incident scene, vehicle- and equipment-related expenses, or materials and supplies purchases, he said.

The city is also seeking a declaration from the federal government to help small businesses impacted by the incident get disaster loans.

Water is sprayed on the tanks at a GKN Aerospace facility in Garden Grove in a bid to reduce the heat and pressure building up inside.

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Kayla Bartkowski

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Getty Images

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How we got here

Late last week, an industrial tank containing a flammable toxic substance called methyl methacrylate overheated at the aerospace facility and began leaking dangerous vapors.

The leak was caused by a failed cooling valve on the tank, authorities said. That triggered the tank’s pressure-relief value and spiked the chemical’s temperature to dangerous levels.

An Orange County Fire Authority spokesperson told LAist that the first word of something amiss came from GKN, which notified authorities of the leak at 3:22 p.m. May 21. The next day, authorities announced it was a near certainty the damaged tank would either explode or crack and spill thousands of gallons of pollutants into the area.

This led to immediate evacuation orders, blocked-off streets and traffic jams.

A week later, authorities say they’d avoided disaster by injecting a neutralizing or inhibiting agent into a crack in the tank, turning the volatile liquid into a stable gel.

The temperature in the tank remains stable around 90 degrees, authorities said Thursday. There is no chemical leak, threat of fire or risk to the public, authorities said. OC Fire reduced the “safety zone” around the tank to 150 feet this morning.

Now, the Orange County Health Care Agency hazardous materials team, the South Coast Air Quality Management District and GKN Aerospace are responsible for any removal and cleanup plans.

Next steps

Orange County Health and South Coast AQMD did not immediately respond to questions about next steps but said any plan will be developed along with GKN Aerospace and that more details would be available soon.

The company did not respond Thursday but told LAist in a statement last week it would “continue working alongside them and community partners as recovery efforts move forward.”

Water and air monitors have not detected any dangerous levels of pollutants around the site, according to local and federal authorities.

A spokesperson for the U.S. The Environmental Protection Agency told LAist on Thursday it is working closely with South Coast AQMD on a "cleanup and removal" plan and will provide technical advisory support as needed.