A potential crack may be releasing pressure inside a toxic chemical tank in Southern California, officials said, a development they hope could help avert a devastating vapour explosion. The tank holds methyl methacrylate, a toxic chemical used to manufacture resins and plastics. Concerns over a possible explosion or leak have prompted evacuation orders for tens of thousands of residents, many of whom are staying in shelters.
Possible crack identified
The possible crack was identified during a visual inspection of the 7000-gallon (26,500 litre) tank at the GKN Aerospace facility in Garden Grove, interim Orange County Fire Chief TJ McGovern said. “With this new information, it could change our trajectory and our strategy to this event,” he said. McGovern said that crews are looking to confirm that the crack is releasing pressure in the tank. If it is, it means “the potential of a BLEVE [boiling liquid expanding vapour explosion] is now off the table.”
All-night mission
McGovern said crews would be conducting an “all-night mission” to confirm whether the pressure in the tank has been released. An update about that mission will come Monday, the chief said. “There’s still a potential for explosion,” he said earlier, but if pressure is released, the threat of a BLEVE, which he described as “very, very dangerous, much worse than an explosion”, could be averted. If a BLEVE is still possible, the evacuation zone will be much larger, but if that concern is ruled out, the evacuation zone can be smaller and crews would then focus on cooling the tank, he said.
Air monitoring shows no toxic release
McGovern added that air monitoring has shown the possible fissure has not led to the release of toxic air. The Orange County Fire Authority said early Monday that one of three tanks at the facility had been neutralised by introducing a compound into it, but that the other two — including the affected tank — have not. The authority quashed reports that there may be more than one crack on the tank. “There is also peeling of the weather stripping on the exterior, but this is not an additional crack. There is currently no active leak, and continuous live atmospheric monitoring confirms there are no chemicals leaking,” it said in a post on X.
Risk of chain reaction
A spokesperson for GKN Aerospace said that the company is monitoring the condition of the “affected material” and that crews are working “around the clock to mitigate the risk of a leak”. If the tank explodes, it could also set off a blast in a nearby 15,000-gallon tank and a 4500-gallon tank that also hold methyl methacrylate, Division Chief Craig Covey, the Orange County fire incident commander, told NBC News. Officials are also concerned the tank could rupture and release toxic material into waterways. “We’re talking about possibly one of the worst chemical incidents in California history,” Covey said.
Evacuation zones and shelters
Officials say the blast radius, which stretches to almost 1km, would cause severe structural damage and most likely disperse toxic vapours into the air. Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief Nick Freeman released a map that detailed which communities could be impacted if the tank explodes, dividing the map into three circular damage zones and three oblong blast zones. Shelters in Orange County are filling up with frantic locals as 50,000 people are under evacuation orders. The American Red Cross said Sunday that six shelters scattered around the region for evacuees are nearing or at capacity for overnight stays.
Residents share fears
Lydia Green, who lives in Anaheim, about 1.5km from the facility, is one of them. “I’m feeling nervous, scared, devastated,” Green said from a shelter at John F. Kennedy High School in nearby La Palma. “I’ve been without my medication, my basic needs — food, hotels, we haven’t had a hotel. It’s been very hard.” She and her partner, Eugene Smith, had been sleeping in their car. Smith described the ordeal as “like living in a nightmare,” and he fears a devastating explosion and its aftermath. “Blowing up and then contaminating everything. Everything. That’s where we live at. That’s our home,” he said. Jaden Gebeleinis was also at the shelter and said he was nervous, as he lives in the border of the evacuation zone. “It’s a lot of anger. I feel like why there are these facilities right next to a bunch of houses? And it makes me upset, too,” he said. “You hope that it gets managed well and then the worst-case scenario doesn’t happen, because those are people’s houses, and it’s probably going to affect a lot bigger of a radius than they let on.”
No timeline for return
McGovern said there’s no timeline just yet for when residents may be able to return home. Concern first bubbled up Thursday with a “vapour release” at the 7000-gallon tank, Orange County fire officials said. Further investigation found that the tank’s temperatures were rising. Firefighters have been using sprinklers and hose lines to cool the tank. McGovern said that during a team operation Saturday night, crews saw that the pin on the temperature gauge was displaying 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the highest level it shows, meaning actual temperatures in the tank could be higher. Garden Grove is in northern Orange County, about 55km southeast of Los Angeles and 6.5km from Disneyland in Anaheim. Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Orange County on Saturday. On Sunday, he requested that President Donald Trump issue an emergency declaration to support response operations in the county. McGovern said officials are working collaboratively and using “outside-the-box thinking” to come up with a solution and get families back in their homes. “We have to get them back,” he said, “but I will assure you we will not get them back until it’s safe to do so.”
