Garden Grove City Council members Thursday urged GKN Aerospace officials to come to next week’s meeting to update the community on what they plan to do to address the fallout from the chemical leak emergency last month.
Reading from a letter to the company, Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein said the emergency “caused significant hardship to many in our community and placed first responders in a dangerous and volatile situation. … The community needs to understand how this incident happened and what steps are being taken to ensure an incident like this does not happen again.”
City Councilwoman Yesenia Muneton pushed for a specific date for a company representative to address the council, prompting the council to decide on next Tuesday’s meeting.
“They should respond to our community ASAP,” said Councilman Phillip Nguyen.
He said residents living paycheck to paycheck were “hurt badly” so he wants to hear from GKN and for the company to “pay out more and more equitably to our community.”
Councilwoman Ariana Arestegui said the $3 million the company pledged was for a “mutual aid fund… for folks having a really hard time immediately… While this $3 million will help some folks… it is not a refund or reimbursement.”
Orange County Health Care Agency officials planned to begin its process of removing methyl methacrylate, or MMA, from two tanks next to the one that was damaged on Thursday or Friday, but a delay in delivery of sealed trucks needed for the job may delay those plans.
“They didn’t receive all the resources needed in time to start the removal process,” said Health Care Agency spokeswoman Salma Elshakre.
“We’re still within that window” to start the job on Friday, Elshakre said. “But it’s not looking likely for today (Thursday).”
Officials will issue an announcement updating its timeline if the trucks can’t start the task on Friday.
The plans include pumping out the MMA from two storage tanks and into the sealed trucks, which will take the chemicals away and dispose of them.
Officials said the chemical has a “distinctive fruity or plastic-like odor,” but most people may not even notice the scene. Officials are monitoring the air around the plant to make sure it adheres to public safety measures.
Thousands of residents in Garden Grove and Stanton had to leave their homes for days during the Memorial Day Weekend as authorities worked to neutralize the MMA at 12122 Western Ave. amid fears it would lead to an explosion.
GKN Aerospace announced Wednesday it had donated $3 million to the United Way’s OC Community Resilience Fund to assist residents who were impacted by the evacuations. The company also committed another $1 million for “broader community initiatives” across the county. GKN previously donated $1 million to the Red Cross when the evacuations were still in effect.
Orange County Board Chairman Doug Chaffee said he was “disappointed” the company did not establish a more formal claims procedure for residents to access.
“I feel they’re remiss in not doing that because now they’re facing the litigation, which is more expensive,” Chaffee said. “They could get all of the minor claims out of the way.”
He called the $3 million a “drop in the bucket.”