California: 40,000 people ordered to evacuate over chemical leak fears | California
Authorities in Orange County, California, ordered the evacuation of 40,000 people due to concerns about a chemical spill that could spill or explode.
The problem emerged on Thursday at a facility owned by GKN Aerospace in the town of Garden Grove. storage tank containing methyl methacrylate He started gassing and threatened to fail. chemical one highly flammableIt is used in the production of resin and plastic.
Local authorities first responded to the incident on Thursday with a hazardous materials team and ordered the evacuation of local residents. They lifted the order later the same day, but the problem was exacerbated by “damage to a valve in the tank”, which “created additional operational difficulties and prevented full abatement”. Garden Grove officials wrote: under evacuation order.
New evacuation orders came until Friday Expanded to include residents of six cities.
“We have a tank that is actively in crisis,” Orange County Fire Marshal Craig Covey said. He told reporters at the press conference.
“You’re really left with two options. One: The tank fails, spilling a total of about 6-7,000 gallons of very nasty chemicals into the parking lot in that area. Or two: The tank goes into a thermal runaway state and explodes, affecting any tanks containing fuel or chemicals around them.”
Garden Grove police Chief Amir El-Farra said: 15% of those facing eviction The orders were refusing to leave, according to the Orange County Register. The city was founded on: at least two shelters for those evacuated.
Covey, the county fire chief, urged residents to take the order seriously.
“We’re organizing these evacuations in preparation for two options: It fails or it explodes,” Covey said. Please comply with our evacuation requests and orders.”
However, it is also possible for the tank to crack rather than explode. Emergency response teams set up sand barriers to control the chemicals in this incident.
“Believe it or not, this is the best-case scenario in a weird world,” Covey said. According to the New York Times.
GKN Aerospace is a division of a British company. produces aircraft engines and other aircraft parts.
