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$125M settlement approved for Garden Grove chemical tank incident
A damaged tank at GKN Aerospace in Garden Grove forced thousands of nearby residents to evacuate.
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Ethan Swope
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AP Photo
)
What you need to know
An Orange County judge has approved a $125 million settlement with the company that owns a chemical tank in Garden Grove that failed earlier this year, forcing about 50,000 nearby residents to evacuate for days as the tank threatened to explode.
The agreement between the Orange County District Attorney and GKN Aerospace sets aside up to $100 million for a claim program for residents and businesses who were forced to evacuate.
What’s covered in the claim program?
Those affected can be reimbursed for expenses like hotel stays and loss of wages. That includes:
- Up to $300 a night for lodging, up to five nights
- A $500 payment per household for the loss of using their home
- Up to $500 per day in lost wages for hourly employees who missed work due to the evacuation, up to three working days
- Up to $5,000 per day in lost profits for businesses that had to close during the evacuation
An additional $8.5 million will be used to reimburse government agencies that responded to the emergency.
The company has agreed to a safety plan, which includes new equipment and upgrades to existing equipment, and monitoring and oversight for at least the next seven years.
What’s next?
GKN says it will hold a community event on Oct. 27 so residents can learn about the claim program, though details about the event haven’t yet been released.
Sponsored message
The company says now that the agreement has been court-approved, the claim program will open “as soon as possible.” To prepare, GKN said residents should keep receipts related to their expenses during their evacuation.
"Additional guidance on acceptable documentation will be provided when the program opens," according to a company FAQ site.
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