Garden Grove Chemical Tank Emergency Keeps Evacuation Zone Under Pressure
Officials are monitoring an overheated methyl methacrylate tank while evacuation orders and air-quality checks continue.
GARDEN GROVE, California | The damaged chemical tank at a GKN Aerospace facility kept an Orange County evacuation zone under pressure Sunday as officials monitored thousands of gallons of methyl methacrylate.
AP reported that the tank holds roughly 6,000 to 7,000 gallons of the flammable chemical and that more than 50,000 residents were affected by evacuation orders. CBS News reported that officials described the tank as likely to explode or leak as responders worked through the risk.
Officials have been cooling the tank, monitoring air quality and considering ways to manage pressure and chemical release. Current reporting has not supported claims of widespread off-site contamination beyond official monitoring results.
The emergency remains a public-safety, environmental and business-continuity event for the community, responders and the aerospace facility.
Additional Reporting By: Associated Press; CBS News; Reuters
What this means
The next official updates to watch are tank pressure and temperature, evacuation boundaries, air-monitoring results, EPA statements and any company response from GKN Aerospace.