A chemical leak at GKN Aerospace’s Garden Grove facility prompted evacuations across parts of Orange County on Friday, with officials warning a toxic tank could either fail and spill into nearby waterways or explode.
The words “in crisis” hung over the Garden Grove facility on Friday afternoon as Orange County firefighters worked through two terrifying possibilities for a tank holding methyl methacrylate.
At the center of the response was GKN Aerospace. a U.K.-based manufacturing company that has operated in the city since 2004. The Garden Grove site—on 15.5 acres along Western Avenue—designs. analyzes. tests and certifies military canopies. cockpit windows and passenger windows. according to the company’s website. It also manufactures the world-leading F-35 canopy and produces transparencies for several aircraft. including the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 737. the Airbus A350. HondaJet and Bombardier C-Series. the website states.
For residents in the 12,000 block of Western Avenue and beyond, the day quickly became about survival and uncertainty. Fire crews were called to the site again on Friday after temperature rises on Thursday triggered temporary evacuations. In the hours after those first concerns, officials returned as the chemical situation intensified.
The problem involved three large tanks containing methyl methacrylate—MMA. a highly toxic chemical used to make plastic—at the facility. One tank, described by officials as being “in crisis,” held about 7,000 gallons of the chemical. Craig Covey. a division chief with the Orange County Fire Authority and the incident commander. outlined what could happen next during a news conference.
“One, it fails and cracks, and all the product leaks out onto the ground,” Covey said, explaining that crews were trying to prevent the liquid from “getting into the storm drains and the river channels and into our oceans.”
Or, he said, it could explode.
As that decision point approached, firefighters worked on what Covey called “out of the box” ideas—pushing for more than two outcomes even as they planned for the worst.
“Our group is going to do everything they can to come up with a third, a fourth, a fifth option,” he said.
GKN Aerospace said it was coordinating with emergency responders and specialized hazardous materials teams. A spokesperson told The Times on Friday that there were “no reports of injuries at this time. ” adding that the company’s priority remained the safety of its employees. responders and the surrounding community. The spokesperson also said the situation at the Garden Grove site remained ongoing and that GKN was “fully focused on working with emergency services and the relevant authorities to ensure the safety of our employees and the local community.”.
Behind the scenes, the company’s track record with regulators also came into focus. Public records show GKN Aerospace’s Garden Grove facility underwent four inspections by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration since 2018. resulting in 10 violations. More details about those violations were not immediately available.
In 2019. the California Department of Industrial Relations filed a request in Orange County Superior Court asking a judge to order the company to pay $2. 898 in unpaid civil penalties. Court records described allegations from April 2018 stating the company “failed to ensure that all machinery and equipment in service were inspected or maintained as recommended by the manufacturer.” The records also allege a failure to “implement and effective written injury and illness prevention program” under state law.
It doesn’t appear from the documents described that any of those violations were related to the tanks at the center of Friday’s incident. The records do not say how the company responded to the inspection reports.
In a written response to questions. GKN said. “Safety at our facilities is paramount. ” and that it “follow[s] all standard safety protocols and processes and are regularly audited by numerous state and federal agencies.” The spokesperson added that the company’s focus and priority “today is on working with emergency services and the relevant authorities to address the issue at hand and protect the local community.”.
Residents’ fear wasn’t limited to the fireground. Late Friday night. Congressman Derek Tran. an Orange County Democrat. said he had spoken with GKN Aerospace leadership and “urged the company to take full responsibility for the panic and disruption that tens of thousands of residents are currently experiencing.”.
“We agreed the priority is the safety of the community and addressing the urgent crisis at hand. ” Tran wrote in a post on social media. “I’m continuing to work with emergency personnel to ensure that residents are safe and have the resources they need while officials work to mitigate the impacts of the hazmat incident.”.
What happens next for the “in crisis” tank remains the central question driving the response—whether crews can keep MMA from escaping into storm drains and waterways, or whether they must prepare for a blast.
GKN Aerospace chemical leak methyl methacrylate MMA Garden Grove Orange County Fire Authority OSHA violations evacuations hazmat incident