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 leak that threatened to spill or explode.
The problem arose Thursday at a facility owned by GKN Aerospace in the city of Garden Grove, where a storage tank containing methyl methacrylate began off-gassing and threatened to fail. This highly flammable chemical is used to make resins and plastics.
Local authorities initially responded to the incident with a hazardous materials team on Thursday, ordering local residents to evacuate. They lifted the order later that day, but the problem worsened due to “damage to a valve on the reservoir” that “created additional operational challenges, preventing full mitigation,” Garden Grove officials wrote in an evacuation order.
As of Friday, new evacuation orders had extended to residents of six cities.
“We have a tank that is actively in crisis,” Orange County Fire Division Chief Craig Covey told reporters at a news conference.
“There are literally two options left. One: the tank fails and spills a total of about 6 to 7,000 gallons of very harmful chemicals into the parking lot in that area. Or two: the tank goes into thermal runaway and explodes, affecting the tanks around it that also contain fuel or chemicals.”
Garden Grove Police Chief Amir El-Farra said about 15% of people facing evacuation orders refused to leave, according to the Orange County Register. The city has set up at least two shelters for evacuees.
Covey, the county fire division chief, urged residents to take the order seriously.
“We organize these evacuations in preparation for these two options: it fails or it explodes,” Covey said. “Please follow our evacuation requests and orders.”
However, it is possible that the tank will crack rather than explode. First responders installed sand barriers to contain the chemicals during this event.
“In a strange world, this is the best case scenario, believe it or not,” Covey said, according to the New York Times.
GKN Aerospace is a division of a British company that produces aircraft engines and other aircraft parts.
