By Ricardo Roura
A chemical storage tank remains at risk of an explosion or spilling toxic products this Sunday morning at the GKN Aerospace facilities, in the city of Garden Grove, in Orange County.
According to officials, the threat is that the tank failure could spill thousands of gallons of methyl methacrylatea highly toxic chemical substance, or in the worst case scenario, that the tank could explode as a result of the increase in temperature inside.
The governor of California, Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency this Saturday for the emergency at the industrial facility in Garde Grove.
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“The safety of Orange County residents is the top priority. “We are mobilizing all available state resources to support local emergency responders and ensure the community has what they need to stay safe,” Newsom said.
Due to the emergency, which began this Thursday, authorities ordered the evacuation of more than 50,000 peoplewithout knowing with certainty how long they could remain away from their homes.
The Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) said a crew was able to observe an internal thermometer of the 34,000-gallon tank, which showed that the temperature has been rising about one degree per hour since Thursday morning.
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The risk of an explosion remained latent this Sunday morning while emergency services They were trying to find a solution to the dangerous situation..
During the night of this Saturday, the teams entered the facility to obtain an accurate reading of the temperature of the volatile liquid in the damaged storage tank, which, according to OCFA, increased significantly during the last few hours.
Representatives of the GKN Aerospace company stated that They were collaborating with emergency services to find a solution.
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“We are fully focused on collaborating with emergency services, hazardous materials teams and relevant authorities.” to ensure the safety of the local community, our employees and others involved“said a GKN spokesperson this Saturday.
The company apologized for the significant inconvenience caused to thousands of residents and Garden Grove businesses due to the need to evacuate due to the danger of a chemical spill or tank explosion.
“We are working tirelessly with all relevant experts to resolve this situation in the safest and most timely manner possibleand we deeply appreciate the continued professionalism and dedication of Orange County emergency services,” the spokesperson added.
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Until this Sunday morning, Orange County authorities had not reported any deaths or injuries from the incident.while an investigation was ongoing to find out the causes of the failure in the storage tank.
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