GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (AP) — Southern California officials lifted the final evacuation orders Tuesday night for residents who live near a damaged chemical tank, allowing 16,000 people to return home.
The crisis that began Thursday had forced 50,000 people to evacuate in and around the Orange County city of Garden Grove. A crack that formed by chance on the tank relieved pressure and helped avert a catastrophic explosion, allowing most evacuees to return home over the Memorial Day weekend. Authorities announced they were lifting the final orders after the temperature on the tank remained stable for four hours without intervention from sprinklers.
“All residents will go home,” Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief Craig Covey said during a meeting that grew raucous at times as residents questioned why the chemical was allowed in a densely populated area and urged city officials to hold the company that operates the tank accountable.
The tank contains methyl methacrylate, which is highly flammable. 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. Exposure to the chemical can cause serious respiratory problems, neurological issues and irritation to the skin, eyes and throat, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
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 the chemical.
Separately, an implosion of a chemical tank Tuesday at a pulp and paper mill in Washington state killed one worker and left nine others accounted for, with authorities saying they were working on recovery efforts. Nine others were injured.
Residents call for accountability
Angry residents spoke at the city council meeting after the crisis interrupted Memorial Day plans, graduation ceremonies and daily life in central Orange County, which is made up of a cluster of cities including Garden Grove.
Karen Nguyen, a 29-year-old Garden Grove resident, said she will be able to go home now that the evacuation order is being lifted but is concerned about what the chemical might do to her three cats, which already have health issues. She told the city council she wants stricter regulations to ensure nothing like this happens again, and she doesn’t want to see these plants in her community.
“They’re not welcome in our neighborhood,” she said.
Bobbi-Lee Smart said she was evacuated from her home in nearby Anaheim but many of her neighbors were too poor to get out. She said this never should have happened as the company had a record of violations. She demanded the city take action.
“Please shut them down, please take care of our residents," she said.
Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein pledged to hold the company accountable.
In a statement earlier Tuesday, GKN said it was working closely with authorities.
“We apologize for the ongoing disruption this incident is causing, and our priority remains the safety of our neighbors and our community,” the statement said.
GKN agreed to pay state regulators more than $900,000 in 2025 to settle violations involving recordkeeping, permitting issues and nitrogen oxide emissions, according to a report on the South Coast Air Quality Management District website.
Authorities scrambled to minimize risk
Crews at the California plant had worked to ensure two nearby tanks were neutralized and would not be affected by the compromised tank, Orange County Fire Capt. Brian Yau said.
The tank overheated because a valve on the cooling system failed that kept it at 50 degrees, (10 degrees Celsius), Covey said.
Crews sprayed water on the tank until the interior temperature stabilized to 92 F (33.3 C), down from 100 F (37.7 C) over the weekend, the fire department said earlier Tuesday. A sprinkler system was used to douse the tank, and the company said its technical specialists and firefighters removed insulation from the tank to help cool it.
Officials will remain to continue monitoring, he said.
So far testing has found no contamination, officials said.
Orange County Health Director Regina Chinsio-Kwong tried to reassure people returning home over the holiday weekend, saying "you should feel comfortable going home even if you’re across the street from that new zone line.”
Isabel Mendez, 34, said she broke out in a rash on her face and had tingling lips and a sore throat while she was getting ready to leave after an evacuation order was issued Thursday. Her symptoms disappeared a few hours later, she said. She was among the last people allowed back to her home, which is a mobile home close to the site of the leak.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District will monitor the air for several months and the EPA will be checking sewer and storm drains for spills, Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen said.
The California crisis is reminiscent of a 2014 chemical spill in Charleston, West Virginia when storage tanks failed. The disaster inspired a new state law requiring more inspections and registrations of aboveground storage tanks.
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This story has been updated to correct a quote’s attribution to Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief Craig Covey not TJ McGovern, an interim fire chief of the Orange County Fire Authority.
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Weber reported from Los Angeles and Bellisle from Seattle. Associated Press journalists Leah Willingham in Boston; Jamie Stengle in Dallas; and Ethan Swope in Garden Grove, California, contributed to this report.
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