In Southern California, officials are urgently working to prevent a potential disaster involving a leaking storage tank filled with a dangerous chemical used in the production of plastic parts. This situation has prompted evacuation orders for around 40,000 residents in the vicinity.
The crisis began on Thursday at an aerospace plastics facility in Garden Grove, Orange County, when a storage tank containing between 22,700 and 26,500 liters of methyl methacrylate began to overheat, releasing hazardous vapors into the atmosphere, according to the local fire authority.
Division Chief Craig Covey of the Orange County Fire Authority expressed grave concern on Friday, warning that the tank is at risk of cracking and spilling its contents or potentially exploding. “This thing is going to fail, and we don’t know when,” Covey stated. “We’re doing our best to figure out when or how we can prevent it.”
Due to the ongoing leak and the inability to contain it overnight at the GKN Aerospace facility—which manufactures parts for commercial and military aircraft—residents in Garden Grove were ordered to evacuate. This evacuation directive was later extended to parts of five neighboring cities, including Cypress, Stanton, Anaheim, Buena Park, and Westminster.
Fortunately, there have been no reports of injuries or fatalities thus far, as authorities continue to tackle this precarious situation.
No injuries or deaths have been reported, authorities said.
In an update later on Friday, Covey said authorities have been able to maintain the tank’s temperature, buying time to figure out how to fix it.
Garden Grove is about 61 kilometres south of downtown Los Angeles and less than a mile from Disneyland’s two theme parks, which were not under evacuation orders on Friday. The city is known for its vibrant Vietnamese community, one of the largest of any US city.
Danny Pham said he was deep in a dream when his roommate banged on his door about 7am on Friday and told him he needed to leave immediately. Pham had been working late the night before at a Vietnamese restaurant and had not seen the news.
“It was shocking to me,” said Pham, who lives only a couple blocks from the plastics plant. “I didn’t know how serious it would be. I never knew that a thing like this could happen.”
He left minutes later, grabbing only his wallet and passport, and took shelter at a friend’s restaurant in a neighboring city.
By late Friday afternoon, Pham was still trying to figure out where he would stay the night and worrying that he had only the clothes on his back, possibly for days to come.
Covey said crews have created containment barriers with sandbags in case there is a chemical spill from the tank to prevent the toxic chemical from getting into storm drains or reaching creeks or the nearby ocean.
Dr Regina Chinsio-Kwong, the county health officer, said if the chemical heats up, it can release a vapor that is harmful to people’s health. It can cause respiratory issues, itching and burning eyes, nausea and headaches.
Crews were initially successful and were able to neutralize one of two damaged tanks, but Covey said they determined on Friday morning that the remaining tank was “in the biggest crisis”.
GKN Aerospace said specialised hazardous material teams are assessing the situation.
“There are no reports of injuries at this time and our priority remains the safety of our employees, responders, and the surrounding community,” a spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “We will provide verified updates as soon as more information becomes available.”
Kim Yen, a retiree in Garden Grove, was settling in for the night on Thursday when she heard a siren-like sound coming from her phone. An alert told her she needed to leave her home, which was just two blocks from the chemical leak.
As Yen drove to her daughter’s house in Seal Beach, she worried that others in the local Vietnamese community might ignore or not understand the evacuation alert because it was in English.
“They are family,” she said. “I’m hoping they stay alert and listen to the news and the authorities. This is scary.”
Yen, who is originally from Vietnam and has lived in Orange County since 1980, quickly stopped by her house on Friday morning to grab important documents and medications. By then her neighborhood was “a ghost town,” and she was comforted to see police officers going door to door to make sure everyone had evacuated.
“We understand that this is frightening,” Garden Grove Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein said. “But the evacuation orders are in place for your safety.”
Local Vietnamese television stations translated updates from officials and urged residents to take the situation seriously.
