Overheated chemical tank in southern California ‘will fail’, EPA chief says | California
Government officials in California’s Orange County warned that an overheating chemical tank would “fail” and cause a chemical explosion in the area, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator said Sunday.
“We are told that the tank will fail, but there are different scenarios of what this means,” Lee Zeldin said. said CNN’s State of the Union report on Sunday. Zeldin, a former Republican congressman with no previous experience in environmental policy, was chosen by Trump to head the EPA.
Zeldin said the “most catastrophic scenario” in the chemical crisis at a facility just three miles from Disneyland in Southern California would be “an explosion that results in other tanks exploding. That’s why you’re seeing such a massive evacuation happening in the surrounding areas.”
Zeldin noted that officials said the “most likely scenario” would be a “low volume release” of chemicals in the tank. Officials are trying to keep the temperature of the chemical tank below 85F by draining the storage tank with water. On Friday, authorities added a neutralizing agent to a nearby tank to limit the risk of explosion.
About 50,000 People in the area have so far been evacuated from their homes due to concerns about a possible leak or explosion. Garden Grove mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein warned residents to take evacuation orders seriously. “This is a very dangerous situation,” he said on Saturday, according to the Los Angeles Times. Agencies in Los Angeles County said there was “no current threat to L.A. County communities.” In a post I wrote to X Sunday.
Orange County Fire Chief Brian Yau said no significant change in the situation was seen until Sunday. Orange County Register.
Officials monitoring the area’s air quality said they did not detect any pollutants. “We are happy to report that the levels are completely normal in our measurements,” Jason Low of the South Coast Air Quality Management District said in an update. sent to x.
The chemical incident began Thursday afternoon after a leak was reported at a facility in Garden Grove. The tank, owned by GKN Aerospace, contained 6,000-7,000 gallons of gas. methyl methacrylateIt is a highly flammable chemical used in the production of plastic and resin, local officials said.
One update later “We received a bit of a positive briefing” at the scene from the Orange County Fire Department, Klopfenstein said on Instagram. Good news, according to county fire chief TJ McGovern.Late Saturday night, firefighters discovered a “potential crack in the tank” that could help them “make informed decisions” about how to resolve the crisis.
At least two Garden Grove residents have filed a lawsuit against GKN Aerospace over the chemical spill, the LA Times reported. The lawsuit, filed by the
