(The Epoch Times)—Authorities in Southern California’s Orange County said on May 25 that the threat that a chemical tank will suffer a catastrophic explosion has been “eliminated,” but they said that evacuation orders are still in effect.
The Orange County Fire Department said the risk of a “massive explosion” caused by expanding vapor from a compromised chemical tank in Garden Grove, near Los Angeles, has passed, but it also said, “There is still an ongoing threat to public safety.”
“There is still no chemical leak, as verified by continuous atmospheric monitoring,” the department said in a post on X.
Located at a GKN Aerospace facility in Garden Grove, the tank is filled with 7,000 gallons of methyl methacrylate, a flammable chemical that can also cause serious respiratory problems.
Tens of thousands of people in Southern California are under evacuation orders because of the incident.
On May 23, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency, and evacuation orders were issued for an area that’s home to tens of thousands of people as fears mounted that the tank could rupture and spill up to 7,000 gallons of toxic material or explode and endanger nearby tanks.
Newsom said on May 24 that he submitted a request to the federal government to declare an emergency to free up more resources for sheltering and evacuating people, among other response efforts.
At a news conference on May 25, Orange County Fire Authority interim Fire Chief TJ McGovern said residents are still under evacuation orders and that the tank remains a threat to those in the area.
“We want to be clear that the evacuation zones are still in play,” McGovern said on May 25. “Please abide by those evacuation zones.”
Firefighters celebrated the appearance of a crack in the tank over the weekend, which helped relieve pressure, and the tank had cooled slightly from 100 degrees Fahrenheit to 93 degrees, another official said on May 25.
“That is incredibly positive news,” the fire department’s incident commander, Craig Covey, said in the news conference, and he said that it was verified by a team that entered the exclusion zone around the tank.
Health officials have said they were concerned that prolonged exposure to vapor from the methyl methacrylate could cause severe respiratory problems. Air monitors deployed in Garden Grove were not detecting any chemicals or pollutants on May 24, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin told CNN’s “State of the Union” on May 24 that local officials were working to stabilize the tank by keeping its temperature under 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
“I’m being told this morning that the most likely scenario is one of a low-volume release, where the local authorities are going to be able to monitor, neutralize, and contain the threat,” Zeldin said in the interview.
GKN, a division of British aerospace supplier Melrose Industries, released a statement on its website over the past weekend apologizing to the approximately 50,000 people who were forced to evacuate.
A team tasked with responding to the incident removed an insulation material, which allowed the tank to cool, enabling careful monitoring and work to stabilize it, the company said.
“We apologize for the ongoing disruption … and our priority remains its safe resolution,” the statement reads.
Reuters contributed to this report.
