After a six-day chemical crisis that displaced thousands of Orange County residents, elected leaders are demanding accountability from the company at the center of the chaos — GKN Aerospace.
On Wednesday, members of the Orange County Board of Supervisors asked the company to compensate people who were evacuated after an overheating tank of chemicals at the Garden Grove facility threatened to cause a massive explosion.
On Thursday, U.S. Representatives Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach) and Derek Tran (D-Orange) sent a letter to GKN Chief Executive Peter Dilnot demanding answers about why it posed a “catastrophic threat” to the community and what the company is doing in response.
“We must now turn to the work of recovery and accountability to ensure this never happens again,” Tran, whose district includes Garden Grove, said in a statement Thursday. “GKN leadership must respond directly to the community for the chaos and disruption caused by this crisis.”
Steve Carlin, senior vice president of GKN, which oversees the Garden Grove site, said in a statement Wednesday evening that the company is “committed to understanding what happened and identifying ways we can support those affected” and was sorry for “the uncertainty and disruption this situation has caused.”
The statement did not provide details about what caused the crisis or provide specific examples of how the company intends to support the community going forward. Company representatives declined multiple requests for interviews, referring questions from The Times Statements issued On their website.
OC Fire Authority interim Chief TJ McGovern has said the crisis was caused by the failure of equipment designed to cool the company’s tanks of methyl methacrylate, a highly reactive chemical that can be used to make items like plexiglass.
“What happened was that the cooling systems failed, for what reason we don’t know, but they failed and the temperature (inside the tank) was rising,” McGovern said at Wednesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting.
He said the rising temperatures are a “recipe for blowout” or a vapor explosion from an expanding liquid boiling. A catastrophic explosion occurs when a vessel filled with pressurized fluid bursts. Fortunately, as the temperature rose, the tank cracked, allowing some relief from the pressure, he said.
A community member speaks with officers near a blocked-off road in Stanton on Monday.
(Jason Armand/Los Angeles Times)
This allowed workers to use water hoses to cool the chemical as it settled and stabilized, ultimately enabling residents to return home as evacuation orders were phased out on Monday and Tuesday.
Although a potential crisis was averted, fears remain over the company’s industrial facility management.
“GKN Aerospace has placed Orange County and Garden Grove at risk of a devastating chemical explosion,” Rep. Garcia said in a statement Thursday. “Thousands of families have been forced to vacate their homes and people are living in fear.
“We need answers as to what happened, why it happened, how they will prevent it from happening again.”
Garcia and Tran have asked GKN to provide a list of documents and information by June 10. This includes documentation related to facility inspections, compliance history, maintenance logs, staffing levels, and emergency protocols.
They are also seeking a detailed explanation of the events that brought the tank to the brink of a chemical explosion, as well as what steps the company will take to prevent the risk of a future incident and to ensure that surrounding communities are informed about the risks posed by the facility.
Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer has launched a criminal investigation into the incident and is demanding the company retain all relevant records. More than a half-dozen lawsuits have been filed against the company in Orange County Superior Court, and several law firms have sworn File a class-action lawsuit On behalf of the 50,000 evacuated residents.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors is working with the California Office of Emergency Services to file a request for FEMA reimbursement for costs incurred by local, county and state agencies responding to the crisis. However, observers said the responsibility for compensating affected residents probably rested with GKN.
“We encourage them to establish a claims process and accept responsibility,” board Chairman Doug Chafee said during Wednesday’s meeting. “We are hoping for that to happen, so that the public can be reimbursed.”
He said reimbursement should be made available for businesses that had to close because they were in evacuation zones, people who were unable to go to work and lost income during the crisis and expenses incurred by residents, such as staying in hotels.
