safety-record review – Gov. Gavin Newsom says California is reviewing safety records tied to an aerospace firm’s failing pressurized tank after a toxic-chemical scare over Memorial Day weekend, and he linked the effort to a deadly chemical rupture in Washington state—along with conc
A chemical tank nearly exploded over Memorial Day weekend in Orange County, and by Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom was publicly signaling that California officials are widening the lens beyond the one site.
Speaking at a news conference in Sacramento where he signed an elections bill Wednesday, Newsom said officials have begun reviewing safety records connected to the aerospace firm behind the incident, and also looking “more broadly at other chemicals at other sites.”
“Obviously, all of us are now reviewing, and have been in real time, the safety records, not only of this site, but looking more broadly at other chemicals at other sites,” Newsom said. He added that the review was “particularly highlighted by what happened tragically in Washington state, as well.”
In Washington, a massive rupture of a chemical tank at a paper mill in Longview, Wash., killed two people. Authorities said there was no hope of finding more survivors of the Tuesday accident at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. Nine people were missing and eight others were injured, the Associated Press reported. Newsom’s remarks tied California’s response to that toll, underscoring how quickly workplace chemical disasters can become life-or-death events.
At the same news conference, Newsom also pushed back on federal decisions he said could weaken safety oversight. He said he was concerned about “some of the federal cutbacks to safety investments that have been made over the last year. federally. and are proposed in the president’s new budget. ” and he hoped that concern would “temper” the likelihood that those cuts move forward.
“I think they should be more robust in terms of those investigations, not less,” Newsom said. When asked by The Times if more regulation of chemical plants might be necessary. he said. “That’s what I’m suggesting. as it relates to the rules and regulations. all being reviewed. safety records being reviewed as well.”.
State Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Orange) said at the news conference, “There will be legislation.”
The immediate Orange County incident centered on GKN Aerospace in Garden Grove. Authorities said the nearly catastrophic event was sparked by thousands of gallons of a highly toxic chemical in a failing pressurized chemical tank. In that case, investigators suspect the cooling system responsible for maintaining the temperature of the tank failed.
The chemical was methyl methacrylate, or MMA. Experts believe the MMA began reacting with heat to become a solid. producing even more heat and raising the risk of a BLEVE—short for “boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion”—a kind of blast that can cause widespread damage and release toxic material into the air.
When the danger became clear, authorities evacuated about 50,000 residents in Orange County.
In the end, efforts to cool down the crippled tank are believed to have helped prevent an explosion or a massive rupture. Without that cooling, officials feared toxic chemicals could have flowed into waterways and the ocean.
The response in California comes against a longer record of warnings about thermal runaway—an uncontrolled reaction that can spiral as temperatures rise. The industry has long been aware of the risks of accidents that can lead to thermal runaway reactions and explosions. Yet experts for years have said companies have not learned from past mistakes.
A study published in the journal ACS Omega, citing information from the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, found that nearly 15% of incidents in the U.S. involving uncontrolled chemical reactions from 1980 to 2001 were thermal runaway incidents involving rapid polymerization of a chemical.
Back in Sacramento. Newsom framed the reviews as real-time steps. with safety records now under scrutiny not just for the Garden Grove site but for other chemical operations around the state. The timeline and scale of the evacuations in Orange County—and the deadly consequences in Washington state—have put safety oversight back on center stage. as lawmakers and federal budget decisions collide over how much protection workers and neighbors should get when hazardous chemicals go wrong.
Gavin Newsom California safety records chemical plant Orange County Garden Grove GKN Aerospace methyl methacrylate MMA BLEVE thermal runaway evacuation Tom Umberg legislation Longview Washington Nippon Dynawave Packaging