California residents evacuated due to chemical tank threat return home but fears remain

Bobbi-Lee Smart returned home Monday but still has her suitcase, cat carriers and important documents ready so she can leave at a moment's notice.

“I won’t even open the doors and windows in my house because I don’t know for sure that the air is safe,” said Smart, who lives in Anaheim, next to Garden Grove. “How do we know it is stable?”

Tuesday, when the final evacuation orders were lifted in California, a chemical tank ruptured at a Washington state mill in another hazardous chemical emergency, killing people and leaving others still missing a day later.

Tank contains highly flammable chemical

The tank at GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems, which makes cockpit windows, canopies and windshields, contains 6,000 to 7,000 gallons (22,700 to 26,500 liters) of methyl methacrylate, which is highly flammable. Exposure to the chemical can cause serious respiratory problems, neurological issues and irritation to the skin, eyes and throat, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

On Wednesday, the temperature on the tank still remained at a stable 91 degrees (32.8 C) without being sprayed by sprinklers, said Orange County Fire Capt. Brian Yau.

“The team will continually monitor the temperature,” Yau said.

Health officials have assured residents that no contamination or fumes were released, and that they will keep monitoring the air for several months and checking the sewer and storm drains.

Smart said the company should have been scrutinized earlier because it had a record of violations. She feels the company needs to leave the densely populated, working class neighborhood that’s home to family-owned shops, but not before compensating residents and business owners.

“The reality is the company has broken the public trust,” Smart said.

Based in the United Kingdom, GKN Aerospace said it was cooperating with authorities and working with nonprofit organizations to help the community recover.

Angry residents call for accountability

A lawsuit filed on behalf of a couple who live near GKN says the company failed to protect neighbors from “foreseeable chemical releases, toxic vapor migration, evacuation conditions, and catastrophic industrial failures.”

The lawsuit says residents reported strong odors, respiratory irritation, headaches and dizziness and are worried.

At a city council meeting Tuesday night, residents questioned why the chemical plant was allowed to operate so close to homes.

The Orange County District Attorney’s office is investigating. Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein pledged the company would be held accountable.

Last year, GKN agreed to pay state regulators more than $900,000 to settle violations involving recordkeeping, permitting issues and nitrogen oxide emissions, according to a report on the South Coast Air Quality Management District website.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has inspected the company’s Garden Grove facility four times since 2018, which resulted in 10 violations, according to public records obtained by the Los Angeles Times. More information about those violations was not immediately available.

In 2019, the California Department of Industrial Relations filed a request in Orange County Superior Court that a judge order the company to pay $2,898 in unpaid civil penalties.

The citation, outlined in court records obtained by the Times, alleged the company in April 2018 “failed to ensure that all machinery and equipment in service were inspected or maintained as recommended by the manufacturer.”

It doesn’t appear that any of the violations were related to the overheated tank.

Expert says companies can face consequences

Purdue University engineering professor Andrew Whelton said the tank would likely have to be replaced.

Whelton said the California crisis is reminiscent of a 2014 chemical spill in Charleston, West Virginia, when storage tanks failed at a facility owned by Freedom Industries. The spill prevented the capital city and surrounding areas from using their tap water for several days. Businesses were temporarily shut down and hundreds of people headed to emergency rooms for issues from nausea to rashes.

That disaster inspired a new state law requiring more inspections and registrations of aboveground storage tanks. Freedom later declared bankruptcy and two company officials were sent to prison on federal pollution charges.

Weber reported from Los Angeles.