With evacuation shelters reaching capacity as more than 40,000 people are told to leave their homes, officials working to prevent an explosion at a crippling chemical tank in Garden Grove reported tentative progress Sunday in ending the crisis.
Orange County Fire Authority interim fire chief TJ McGovern said firefighters discovered a possible crack on the surface of the tank that may have caused some of the pressure loss resulting from a chemical reaction inside.
If they are correct, this will reduce the chance of a catastrophic explosion or uncontrolled leak.
“With this new information, it could change our trajectory and our strategy for this incident,” McGovern said. “This was a step in the right direction, and there will be more to come soon.”
Enzo Soriano, 7, left, Vitto Soriano, 11, middle, and Santiago Soriano, 16, right, look at their phones while camping outside the Freedom Hall shelter in Garden Grove on Sunday
(Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin said the new development was promising.
“I’ve been told this morning that the most likely scenario is one of a low-amount release, where local officials will be able to monitor, neutralize and control the threat,” he said during a Sunday morning appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
McGovern gave no indication of when the 40,000 people who were forced from their homes and into shelters due to evacuation orders would be allowed to return.
They said, “We know you are out of your homes. We want to bring you back.” “But we can’t do that until it’s deemed safe.”
This positive comment is a welcome development in a situation that has threatened much of Orange County since Thursday.
The crisis began when the Orange County Fire Authority responded to a report of a hazardous materials incident at GKN Aerospace on Western Avenue in Garden Grove. Authorities found a tank containing 7,000 gallons of a toxic chemical called methyl methacrylate, or MMA, stored in liquid form, which was in danger of exploding due to a build-up of pressure from a chemical reaction.
Methyl methacrylate is used in making plastics. While the polymer itself is not toxic, its liquid MMA precursor is. If it goes into the air, it can harm people in high concentrations and with prolonged or prolonged exposure.
The primary solution would have been to pump a neutralizing agent into the problem tank, extinguishing it and making it no longer explosive, but the essential valve closed leaving no way to get the neutralizing agent into the tank.
Officials feared that there were only two possible outcomes: a catastrophic explosion or a catastrophic leak.
A crack in a tank containing a toxic chemical might not seem like a ray of hope, but Elias Picazo, an assistant professor of chemistry at USC, said it might be the best-case scenario.
“If the tank is going to fail, you want it to fail through a crack rather than fail through an explosion,” he said. “With a controlled leak, you can get liquid or gas out of the tank, relieving pressure and buying more time.”
He explained that as material leaks from the tank, the pressure inside gradually increases, potentially reaching a safe equilibrium. The leak also eliminates the source of a chemical reaction that is generating heat, which, in turn, accelerates the reaction in a process called “thermal runaway.”
Water was sprayed onto large storage tanks at the GKN Aerospace facility in Garden Grove on Sunday.
(Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times)
But the situation remains uncertain, he said. Depending on the size of the crack and the speed of the chemical reaction, it is possible that the increasing pressure within the tank will exceed what can be released through the crack, causing the tank to burst.
“It’s a positive step, but it’s not over,” he said of the new development.
If a failed chemical tank in Orange County explodes, the aerospace plant where it is located and dozens of nearby homes could suffer severe damage, according to a map released Saturday by officials.
Areas within approximately 1,100 feet of the tank will suffer the most severe damage; And beyond that, in areas within about 0.3 miles, moderate damage; And beyond that, in areas within about 0.4 miles, the blast caused light damage.
Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief Nick Freeman said the severe blast zone “represents areas where we can expect severe structural damage and significant losses.” The Stanton city neighborhood contains dozens of homes in that area, which includes Santa Rosalia Street, south of Laurelton Avenue, and north of Lampson Avenue.
“In the moderate blast zone, we would again expect structural damage and harm to people in that area,” Freeman said.
The light-damage area included Wakeham Elementary School and a Home Depot at the corner of Chapman Avenue and Beach Boulevard. “There, we may see some structural damage, but it will be a little more limited,” Freeman said.
Officials also warned that in the event of an explosion, some areas could catch fire or suddenly catch fire, as well as areas where the chemical cloud would be immediately dangerous to life and health, and a much larger area where the chemicals would smell, but at non-toxic levels.
The evacuation around the failed tank in Garden Grove currently includes thousands of residents of six Orange County cities: Garden Grove, Cypress, Stanton, Anaheim, Buena Park and Westminster. Four of the five shelters set up by the county are full. As of Sunday afternoon, the only space left was at Los Amigos High School in Fountain Valley.
On Saturday, three days after the crisis, a South Pasadena law firm filed a lawsuit on behalf of two people living in the evacuation zone. X-Law Group and Presidio Law Firm are seeking class-action status.
The lawsuit says residents faced “evacuation orders, shelter-in-place instructions, exposure concerns, noxious chemical odors, fear of contamination, interference with the use and enjoyment of their homes and properties, and other harms.”
The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages, alleging that GKN Aerospace did not protect the community from harm.
The lawsuit is also demanding “accountability for residents facing evacuation orders, property disruption, potential health risks, loss of use of their homes, related expenses and reduced property values.”
A man walks past the Freedom Hall shelter in Garden Grove on Sunday.
(Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times)
“Clients are naturally very concerned,” said Carlos X. Colorado, a lawyer at X-Law Group. “It’s a scary situation, especially for people nearby, and besides. For a large number of people, it’s an inconvenience.”
GKN Aerospace did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Given the gravity of the situation, three federal lawmakers representing California have appealed to the Trump administration to issue a disaster declaration over the incident.
U.S. Representative Derek Tran (D-Orange) co-signed a letter with Senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla requesting that the federal government provide additional resources in response to the incident. Tran posted a copy of the letter on X.
“The severity of this disaster requires additional coordination and federal support. Therefore, we urge you to expeditiously approve California’s request for an emergency declaration and provide emergency protective measures and direct federal assistance under the Public Assistance Program for Orange County,” the letter, dated May 24, said.
Governor Gavin Newsom also made a similar appeal to the President. The White House did not respond to a request from The Times.
Meanwhile, officials have stressed that they are trying to keep the chemicals inside the damaged tanks at the aerospace facility as cool as possible. He said he has received help from experts at the national level to present alternative plans. However, nothing specific is mentioned.
Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief Craig Covey said continuing to pour cold water over the tank could slow the liquid chemistry inside to cure – becoming a solid at a slower rate – and reduce pressure build-up inside the tank.
He said, “Like a snowflake that freezes from the outside in – this thing heals, it warms up and heals from the outside in.” “While it’s doing that process, it’s building up pressure.”
The tank has the capacity to hold some pressure. There is a gap between the MMA chemical surface and the tank roof.
“We’re hoping that space can absorb the slower cure rate and not overpressurize and explode,” Covey said.
