Evacuation orders were reissued Friday for thousands of residents and schools were closed in Garden Grove as authorities warned that a 34,000-gallon chemical tank at an aerospace facility could potentially spill thousands of gallons of overheated toxic material, or possibly even explode.
Orange County Fire Authority crews and Garden Grove police responded around 3:30 p.m. Thursday to GKN Aerospace at 12122 Western Ave. due to a chemical that became overheated inside a 34,000-gallon tank, causing the tank to begin venting vapors and triggering a sprinkler system designed to spray water on the tank to cool the material inside.
The chemical in the tank is methyl methacrylate, a toxic and highly flammable liquid chemical used in the manufacture of acrylic plastics.
Firefighters began spraying the failing tank with water in an effort to cool the material inside, and that process continued through the night.
Evacuation orders were initially issued Thursday, but they were lifted Thursday night when crews believed they were making progress mitigating the situation. But Friday morning, the orders were re-instituted “due to changing conditions,” according to the OCFA.
As the morning wore on, the situation worsened, and the evacuation zone was expanded to create a roughly one-mile buffer area around the tank.
Around midday, OCFA Division Chief Craig Covey gave a bleak update online, saying that authorities have determined that “The tank that is in the biggest crisis is in fact unable to be secured and mitigated.”
“There are literally two options left remaining,” Covey said. “One, the tank fails and spills a total of about 6,000 to 7,000 gallons of very bad chemicals into the parking lot in that area, or two, the tank goes into a thermal runaway and blows up, affecting the tank that are around them that have fuel or the chemicals in them as well.”
Covey stressed that “there is no active gas leak, no plume in the area,” but he warned residents to heed the evacuation warnings are remain out of the area due to the possible spill or explosion. Officials said air quality was being actively monitored in the area, and all readings were still within healthy limits.
The evacuation zone covers the area north of Trask Avenue, south of Ball Road, east of Valley View Street and west of Dale Street. Evacuation centers were established at Garden Grove Sports & Recreation Center, 13641 Deodara Drive, and at 5700 Orange Ave. in Cypress.
Garden Grove Police Chief Amir El-Farra said about 40,000 people were affected by the evacuation order, and about 15% of them were refusing to leave. He and other officials on the scene urged everyone to adhere to the orders, noting the dangerousness of the situation.
The Garden Grove Unified School District announced that classes were canceled until further notice at the following campuses:
— Barker Elementary School;
— Bryant;
— Carver;
— Enders Elementary School;
— Garden Park;
— Lawrence Elementary School;
— Wakeham Elementary School;
— Patton Elementary School;
— Bell Intermediate School;
— Alamitos Intermediate;
— Pacifica High School;
— Rancho Alamitos High School;
— Skylark Preschool;
— Maintenance and Operations Facility; and
— Lampson Bus Yard.
A public information hotline was established at 714-628-7085.
GKN Aerospace, a leading global supplier of vehicle and aircraft components, manufactures acrylic plastics.
No injuries have been reported as of Friday afternoon.
It was unclear what caused the material in the tank to overheat.
Covey said OCFA crews were prepared for the possibility of the chemical spilling out of the tank, with “containment barriers” put in place to prevent the material from entering storm drains, river channels or reaching the ocean.
He said a spill of the chemical is actually the “best case scenario, believe it or not,” favorable to an explosion and possible plume of toxic material spreading over the area.
Rep. Derek Tran, D-Westminster, issued a statement Friday saying he was “closely monitoring” the situation.
“My office is in close contact with local police, fire, and emergency response officials as they work to contain the hazardous materials, assess air quality, and ensure residents and first responders are safe,” he said. “I am in contact with federal disaster relief officials, including FEMA and the EPA, to urge them to provide any available federal assistance for Garden Grove. I encourage everyone in the affected area to follow guidance from local authorities and avoid the impacted zones until further guidance is issued.”