Orange County health officials are walking back a claim that no vapor or fumes were released during a chemical tank crisis at a Garden Grove aerospace company two weeks ago, but state officials maintain that any leak did not pose a major health risk to the public.
The Los Angeles Times asked the Orange County Healthcare Agency about the statement of Health Officer Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong, who during a media briefing on Memorial Day said that “there was no contamination, there were no fumes, there were no vapors that came from this incident, there was no leak.”
Chinsio-Kwong’s statement seemed to contradict repeated statements by officials with the Orange County Fire Authority, whose leaders said they responded on May 21 to a crippled pressurized tank at a Garden Grove aerospace firm that was “off-gassing with some fumes,” and that there was “a vapor release from a tank containing an industrial chemical used in plastic and manufacturing,” and that rising temperature forced the activation of a relief valve.
Additionally, a reference to the vapor release came in a hazardous materials spill report issued on May 21 by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. Citing information from GKN Aerospace, the report said “material contained in an outside above ground storage tank in a tank farm began to experience exothermic reaction causing the material to heat up and release fumes from the storage tank.”
“The top of the storage tank began to bulge, and fumes released for approximately 5 minutes until employees activated the manual fire suppression system.” The report said about 300 employees were evacuated from the facility.
The tank contained 7,000 gallons of the highly reactive liquid chemical known as methyl methacrylate, or MMA, which can be used to make materials such as Plexiglass. Inhaling MMA can irritate the lungs and, at high levels of exposure, can cause severe respiratory distress and hospitalization; long-term exposure has been linked to serious organ damage.
Fire officials said vapor conditions did improve later, and by the next day — a Friday — fire officials said there was no longer any vapor being released out of the crippled tank’s purge valve, even as they warned about how rising temperature in the tank pointed to a risk of a catastrophic explosion. On the same day, authorities issued a new evacuation order, urging 50,000 people to flee the area.
In response to questions from The Times, the Orange County Healthcare Agency said it did not dispute statements that chemical vapors were released from the pressurized tank on May 21. “During the earliest stage of any incident response, it is common for initial reports from different agencies to vary as information is still developing,” the agency said.
Agency officials clarified that air monitoring began on May 22, and once that began, “all readings taken throughout the response remained within normal ranges, indicating that MMA was not released in tested areas.”
The available data indicate “there is no risk from MMA exposure Friday [May 22] onward from this incident. Consistent with the California Department of Public Health advisory, MMA is not expected to be present in homes, businesses, schools, or other buildings within the evacuated area,” the Orange County Healthcare Agency said in a statement to The Times.
No sensors detecting MMA in the air were operational on May 21, as the crisis first began to unfold. “Because MMA‑specific monitoring was established later in the response, we cannot retroactively measure conditions from earlier in the day on May 21,” the agency said.
Air monitoring has continued after the evacuations were lifted, and air quality readings remain within normal ranges, the agency said.
“There has been no detection of MMA in the community. Air monitoring continues to be performed in the immediate area for further surveillance until the cleanup is concluded,” the agency said.
The California Department of Public Health echoed the county’s statement, saying the “health and safety risk has been eliminated.” Officials said to consider airing out the home — ridding it of any musty odor or garbage smell — but also said they didn’t expect backyard produce to be affected, and did not recommend any special cleaning of outdoor surfaces, patios, cars or play structures before using them.
The state agency said that water supply and quality in areas in and around the evacuation zone remain safe and reliable, and that air monitoring results for volatile organic compounds such as MMA were similar to the normal background rate.
“Based on this data, there is no risk to the public from MMA exposure from this incident,” the state Department of Public Health said. “No long-term health effects are anticipated in the community as a result of this incident.”
The Orange County Healthcare Agency asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for assistance during the crisis, and more than 20 air monitors were set up to analyze chemicals in the air, according to Chris Myers, an on-scene coordinator from the federal agency.
During the Memorial Day news conference, Myers said that the equipment did not detected any “exceedances” of the chemical in the air.
In a separate statement Tuesday, the Orange County Healthcare Agency said residents might smell odors Thursday and Friday related to the removal of the chemical from the damaged tank.
“MMA has a distinctive fruity or plastic-like odor. The product has a very low odor threshold, meaning people may notice a scent even when concentrations are well below levels associated with health concerns,” health officials said.
The neutralized MMA will be transferred from tanks at the aerospace firm “into sealed trucks for transport and disposal,” officials said.
A contracted hazardous materials hauler already removed a portion of the neutralized MMA chemical off site on May 29, health officials said, and wastewater is being analyzed for proper disposal. On Saturday, water collected from a sprinkler system — used to cool down the stricken pressurized tank during the crisis — “was pumped out and stored on site while awaiting analysis prior to proper disposal,” health officials said.
The Orange County Healthcare Agency said it would provide updates on the cleanup on its website at ochealthinfo.com.
Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer has opened a criminal investigation into the incident, and more than half a dozen lawsuits have been filed against the company in Orange County Superior Court.
Authorities suspect that the cooling system responsible for maintaining the temperature of a pressurized tank at GKN Aerospace failed, leading to the crisis and forcing the evacuation of portions of Garden Grove, Stanton, Anaheim, Buena Park, Cypress and Westminster.
During the crisis, all crews and firefighters could do was spray cool water on the tank, hoping that by cooling it down, tragedy could be averted. By Memorial Day, officials confirmed that they had found a crack in the tank and it was no longer pressurized, taking the concern of a catastrophic explosion — a “boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion,” or BLEVE — off the table. A day later, on May 26, officials said the threat of a smaller explosion was eliminated, and all remaining evacuation orders were lifted.
GKN Aerospace has apologized for the crisis, which transfixed Southern California over the holiday weekend and forced many residents to crowd into shelters.
The company said it has been in Garden Grove since 1966, and more than 500 employees work at the facility, which manufactures windows and canopies for aircraft and spacecraft. The company has manufactured more than 2 million cabin windows for Boeing 737 spacecraft, and “our high-clarity transparency technology also enabled the view from Artemis II space mission back to Earth.”
In a statement Wednesday, GKN Aerospace said it was providing $3 million to the OC Community Resilience Fund, managed by Orange County United Way, “to provide assistance to those affected by the recent evacuation.”
The Britain-based company said it had already contributed $1 million to the American Red Cross to support residents affected by the evacuation, and planned on spending another $1 million “to support broader community initiatives across Orange County.” It has also set up a website, gkngg.com, to answer questions.
Times staff writer Clara Harter contributed to this report.
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