A tank holding methyl methacrylate at a GKN Aerospace plant in Garden Grove had climbed to about 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32.22 degrees Celsius) by Saturday. A day earlier it read 77 degrees (25 degrees Celsius). That rise is what pushed Governor Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency in Orange County.
Crews had been trying to cool the vessel for days after an initial leak. The chemical, known as MMA, is highly flammable and used in aerospace manufacturing. Authorities put the amount in the tank at an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 gallons.
“The safety of Orange County residents is the top priority,” Newsom said in a statement, adding that California was putting all available resources behind responders and affected communities. He also wrote on X that state agencies had been mobilized for more than 24 hours. Local authorities, he said, lacked the capacity to handle an incident of this size, and he warned of a risk of “catastrophic failure.” The California National Guard could be sent in if needed.
What officials fear
The order lets the state bring in more resources and speeds up coordination among local, state and federal agencies. Officials have warned in public briefings that if the tank gets too hot, the pressure inside could threaten its structure. A rupture or explosion could release thousands of gallons of hazardous chemicals and set off secondary fires in nearby industrial tanks. Officials have said repeatedly that an explosion is not an acceptable outcome, and the whole response is built around preventing one.
Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen told the Los Angeles Times that experts around the country were being consulted. “We are working nationally with experts all across the country trying to find the third solution,” she said. “Maybe, if possible, the third solution could be to contain the liquid and freeze or maybe turn it into a solid, we don’t know.”
Cooling and containment
Firefighters have kept their distance. Remotely operated hoses, the plant’s own sprinklers and a steady flow of water have been used to bring the temperature down.
The trouble started when the overheated tank vented vapors through its pressure-relief system. Things looked stable for a while, then got worse, and evacuation orders were widened. Roughly 50,000 residents in parts of six Southern California cities were still under orders to leave on Saturday afternoon. Authorities had ordered more than 44,000 residents out on Friday. Several schools were closed, and parts of major roads were shut, according to US media reports.
Responders built sandbag and earth barriers meant to keep runoff out of storm drains, rivers and coastal waters if the tank fails. Hazardous-materials specialists from across the country have reportedly been brought in to look at ways to transfer or neutralize the chemical safely.
Air quality and residents
Government teams kept testing the air around the evacuation zones. Officials said they had found no widespread dangerous concentrations outside restricted areas, but cautioned that conditions inside the tank could shift and make the risks hard to predict. Health authorities said concentrated MMA vapors can irritate the eyes and respiratory system, and may cause dizziness, nausea or trouble breathing.
Some residents have refused to go. Emergency shelters remain open for those who have.
No injuries had been reported as of Saturday, according to company and government statements. GKN Aerospace said the safety of the community and its workers remained its priority. Officials fear the situation could turn into one of Southern California’s most serious industrial chemical disasters in years.
Sources
- California declares state of emergency in Orange County after chemical incident
- California declares emergency in Orange County over chemical leak risk at aerospace facility
- California declares state of emergency after chemical leak in Orange County
