40,000 people under evacuation orders after a chemical tank leak in Southern California
GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (AP) — Nearly 40,000 people in Southern California were under evacuation orders and schools were closed Friday after a hazardous chemical used to make plastic parts that officials said could shatter or explode continued to leak from a storage tank.
A storage tank containing 6,000 to 7,000 gallons (22,700 to 26,500 liters) of methyl methacrylate at an aerospace plastics facility in Garden Grove, a city in Orange County, overheated Thursday and began releasing vapors into the air, the county’s fire marshal said.
Authorities ordered Garden Grove residents to leave the area after failing to stop a leak overnight in a tank at GKN Aerospace, which makes parts for commercial and military aircraft, and expanded evacuation orders Friday to some residents of five other Orange County cities — Cypress, Stanton, Anaheim, Buena Park and Westminster.
No injuries or deaths were reported, officials said.
“This is not a precaution… This thing is going to fail, and we don’t know when,” Garden Grove Fire Chief Craig Covey said at a news conference Friday afternoon. “We’re doing our best to figure out when and how we can prevent this.”
Covey said the tank could malfunction and crack, the chemical could spill onto the ground or explode.
“We understand this is scary,” Garden Grove Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein said at the news conference. “But evacuation orders are in place for your safety.”
Garden Grove is about 38 miles (61 kilometers) south of downtown Los Angeles and less than a mile from Disneyland’s two theme parks, which were not under evacuation orders Friday. The city in the interior of Southern California is known for its vibrant Vietnamese community, making it one of the largest cities in the United States.
In the event of a chemical leak from the tank, crews set up containment barriers with sandbags to prevent the chemical from reaching storm drains or streams or the nearby ocean, Covey said.
He said the chemical was extremely volatile, toxic and flammable.
“We’re setting up these evacuations in preparation for two options: fail or explode,” Covey said in a video update previously posted on social media. Please comply with our evacuation requests and orders.”
The crew was initially successful and managed to disable one of the two damaged tanks, but Covey said Friday morning they determined the remaining tank was in “crisis at its worst.”
GKN Aerospace said that its expert hazardous materials teams were 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 confirmed updates as soon as more information becomes available.”
