A storage tank containing hazardous chemicals used in the manufacture of plastic parts in Southern California leaked on the 22nd, prompting an evacuation order for approximately 40,000 people. Authorities are working urgently to prevent the tank from exploding.
The Associated Press reports that the storage tank is located at the GKN Aerospace plastics factory in Garden Grove, Orange County. The Orange County Fire Department stated that the tank contained approximately 22,700 to 26,500 liters of methyl methacrylate and began releasing vapors into the air on the 21st due to overheating.
Park City Fire Chief Craig Covey stated on the 22nd that the storage tank may have ruptured and malfunctioned, causing chemicals to leak onto the ground and potentially even explode. He said, “This thing will eventually fail, and we don’t know when it will happen.” He added, “We are doing our best to determine the timing or try to prevent it from happening.”
Garden City, located about 61 kilometers south of downtown Los Angeles, is known for its vibrant Vietnamese community and is one of the cities with the largest Vietnamese population in the United States. It is less than 1.6 kilometers from the two Disney theme parks. The Disney parks were not included in the evacuation plan on the 22nd. Authorities say there have been no reports of casualties so far, but residents of Garden City have been ordered to evacuate as the leak could not be stopped overnight.
The evacuation zone was expanded on the 22nd to parts of five other cities in Orange County, including Cypress, Stanton, Anaheim, Buena Park and Westminster. In an update on the evening of the 22nd, Covey stated that authorities are currently able to maintain the temperature of the storage tank, allowing more time to study how to handle the situation.
Rescue workers have also used sandbags to create a containment barrier to prevent the highly volatile, toxic, and flammable chemicals in the storage tank from leaking into drainage systems, streams, or nearby sea areas.