{"id":8377,"date":"2026-05-24T21:16:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T04:16:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/news\/7655413\/southern-california-officials-trying-to-prevent-explosion-or-leak-from-damaged-chemical-tank\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T18:30:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T01:30:02","slug":"officials-lift-evacuation-orders-for-some-california-residents-living-near-a-damaged-chemical-tank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inhome\/news\/8377\/officials-lift-evacuation-orders-for-some-california-residents-living-near-a-damaged-chemical-tank\/","title":{"rendered":"Officials lift evacuation orders for some California residents living near a damaged chemical tank"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emergency officials lifted an evacuation order Monday for some of the people who live near a damaged tank containing hazardous chemicals<\/a> in Southern California after temperatures inside the tank fell enough to eliminate the risk of a catastrophic explosion.<\/p>\n

There is no longer a risk of catastrophic explosion of the tank containing methyl methacrylate at the GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems plant in Garden Grove, near Los Angeles, Orange County Fire Authority division chief Craig Covey said during a news conference. <\/p>\n

Officials ordered about 50,000 Garden Grove residents to evacuate their homes on Thursday after the tank overheated and pressure built up inside. A crack that was discovered Sunday has relieved some of that pressure and the temperature of the highly flammable gas inside is continuing to fall, authorities said.<\/p>\n

An overnight evaluation of the tank containing 6,000 to 7,000 gallons (22,700 to 26,500 liters) of methyl methacrylate produced \u201cincredibly positive news,\u201d Covey said earlier Monday, although the risk to public safety is \u201congoing.\u201d <\/p>\n

Authorities have detected no hazardous chemical levels as of Monday.<\/p>\n

Officials said they needed to cool the tank to prevent a toxic leak or explosion. The tank\u2019s interior had cooled to 93 degrees F (33.9 degrees C), Covey said Monday, down from 100 degrees (37.7 degrees C) a day earlier. <\/p>\n

Environmental risks remain<\/p>\n

The tank might eventually cool enough for crews to safely stabilize and drain the remaining material without triggering a spark or ignition, said Andrew Whelton, a Purdue University engineering professor who has studied environmental contamination.<\/p>\n

Whelton cautioned there is still some risk of an explosion while the chemical inside the tank remains hot and reactive. He said temperatures need to fall closer to ambient levels \u2014 roughly 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit (15.6 to 21.1 degrees C) \u2014 before conditions are considered significantly safer.<\/p>\n

After the tank overheated on Thursday and pressure built, officials said it began releasing vapors. As the interior temperature rises, methyl methacrylate \u2014 which is used to make plastics \u2014 converts from liquid to gas, increasing the pressure and risk of explosion, Whelton said.<\/p>\n

Some of the methyl methacrylate may already have hardened into a stable plastic similar to plexiglass, reducing the risk inside the tank, he said.<\/p>\n

The release of pressure likely released at least some chemical into the atmosphere, and what responders are able to detect depends partly on the type and placement of monitoring equipment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the device isn\u2019t right next to the tank, then it\u2019s not necessarily surprising that they\u2019re not detecting high magnitudes of chemicals,\u201d Whelton said.<\/p>\n

Exposure to methyl methacrylate can cause serious respiratory problems, neurological problems and irritation to the skin, eyes and throat, according to an EPA fact sheet<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Orange County health officials said the chemical is easy to smell and people may notice it over a large area without being harmed.<\/p>\n

Relief among residents after hearing the latest update<\/p>\n

Authorities have not defined what a catastrophic explosion might mean, but said Monday the worst-case scenario is off the table. <\/p>\n

Kim Yen, a retiree who was forced to evacuate her Garden Grove home, said she has been closely following the news and was relieved to learn that the worst has passed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am happy and many of us are happy but, still, we are still on our evacuation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Yen, who lives two blocks from the plant, said she\u2019s ready to return home but first wants to be sure it\u2019s safe. And, she said, she\u2019s been worried about the emergency crews.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are really our heroes,\u201d Yen said.<\/p>\n

The parking lot was full Monday at a large park in Fountain Valley, just southwest of Garden Grove, as people sought refuge in an ad hoc shelter there or pitched tents outside. Other people gathered in the park to enjoy Memorial Day.<\/p>\n

GKN is a British company that supplies aircraft manufacturers <\/p>\n

GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems, which owns the plant, is a British company that makes cockpit windows, canopies and windshields for military and commercial aircraft. <\/p>\n

GKN Aerospace technical specialists and the Orange County Fire Authority removed external insulation material from the tank to help cool its contents, according to a GKN Aerospace statement released Monday. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe apologize for the ongoing disruption this incident is causing and our priority remains its safe resolution, so that residents can return to their homes as quickly as possible,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

GKN Aerospace says on its website that it employs about 16,000 people across 32 manufacturing sites in 12 countries and supplies technologies and components used by major commercial and military aircraft manufacturers worldwide. <\/p>\n

It remained unknown when the operation would reopen. <\/p>\n

GKN Aerospace agreed in 2025 to pay state regulators more than $900,000 to settle violations involving recordkeeping, permitting issues and nitrogen oxide emissions, according to a report on the South Coast Air Quality Management District website.<\/p>\n

Aircraft manufacturing vulnerable to supply chain disruptions<\/p>\n

Disruptions at facilities producing specialized aircraft components can be difficult for the global aerospace industry to absorb because supply chains are highly concentrated and already strained, said Richard Aboulafia, managing director of the aerospace consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory. <\/p>\n

Aboulafia said aerospace manufacturing differs from many other industries because aircraft production rates are relatively low, leaving only a small number of suppliers for many specialized parts and systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s just not a lot of margin in the system,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Willingham reported from Boston. Stengle reported from Dallas. Associated Press journalist Ethan Swope in Garden Grove, California, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

This story has been corrected to say the evacuations were ordered Thursday, not Friday.<\/p>\n

\n \"|\"
People walk outside Freedom Hall, an evacuation center in Fountain Valley, Calif., on Monday, May 25, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ethan Swope)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n \"|\"
People tend to their pets outside Freedom Hall, an evacuation center in Fountain Valley, Calif., on Monday, May 25, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ethan Swope)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n \"|\"
Water is sprayed on a damaged tank at GKN Aerospace in Garden Grove, Calif., on Sunday, May 24, 2026, after the tank containing a chemical used to make plastic parts overheated Thursday. (AP Photo\/Ethan Swope)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n \"|\"
An evacuation map is displayed at the incident command post at the Los Alamitos Race Course in Cypress, Calif., on Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ethan Swope)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Emergency officials lifted an evacuation order Monday for some of the people who live near a damaged tank containing hazardous chemicals in Southern California after temperatures inside the tank fell enough to eliminate the risk of a catastrophic explosion. There is no longer a risk of catastrophic explosion of the tank containing methyl methacrylate at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":8391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"guid":"972ab8db-d1d1-4376-a343-6879956cc50a","source":"The Associated Press","byline":"Leah Willingham And Jamie Stengle","published":"2026-05-24 21:16:24","updated":"2026-05-25 18:24:50","_infotelid":"","_prepressid":"","_multisite_post_sync":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1737,1738],"tags":[],"region":[],"class_list":["post-8377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-world"],"blocksy_meta":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inhome\/news\/8377\/officials-lift-evacuation-orders-for-some-california-residents-living-near-a-damaged-chemical-tank\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Officials lift evacuation orders for some California residents living near a damaged chemical tank","url":"http:\/\/infonews.ca\/inhome\/news\/8377\/officials-lift-evacuation-orders-for-some-california-residents-living-near-a-damaged-chemical-tank\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/infonews.ca\/inhome\/news\/8377\/officials-lift-evacuation-orders-for-some-california-residents-living-near-a-damaged-chemical-tank\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inhome\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/inhome-7866de340ec9b7516a86cf41bf5970d78daa4babaf2e763e8fb06fefaa8a583f.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inhome\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/inhome-7866de340ec9b7516a86cf41bf5970d78daa4babaf2e763e8fb06fefaa8a583f.jpg"},"articleSection":"International","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Associated Press"}],"creator":["The Associated Press"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"iNhome","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2026-05-25T04:16:24Z","datePublished":"2026-05-25T04:16:24Z","dateModified":"2026-05-26T01:30:02Z"},"rendered":"