Garden Grove chemical tank heats

Orange County firefighters spent Saturday trying to keep an overheating tank of methyl methacrylate in Garden Grove from exploding or leaking, after evacuation orders emptied neighborhoods around an aerospace facility and sent thousands of residents to shelters. Incident commanders said outside experts were brought in as crews searched for a way to cool or stabilize the tank. California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for Orange County on May 23, and state agencies began opening additional shelter sites. California Attorney General Rob Bonta separately issued a consumer alert warning that price gouging tied to the emergency is illegal. ### What exactly was inside the tank? The tank held methyl methacrylate at a Garden Grove aerospace plastics facility, according to the California attorney general’s office and state officials. Bonta said the storage tank contained about 5,000 to 7,000 gallons of the chemical, while local reporting described the vessel as a much larger storage tank whose contents had become unstable after a valve failure. (usnews.com) Methyl methacrylate is volatile and flammable, and officials framed the main risk as either a leak or an explosion if the tank could not be controlled. Reuters reported that firefighters found overnight that the failing tank was heating internally despite earlier efforts to manage it. ### Why did the evacuations get so large? (oag.ca.gov) Garden Grove officials and Orange County responders kept evacuation orders in place for an area covering tens of thousands of people around the site. Reuters reported that some nearby shelters ran out of space for evacuees as the response widened. NPR said about 50,000 people were under evacuation orders by Sunday, while Reuters described the affected zone as covering tens of thousands of residents. (usnews.com) Governor Gavin Newsom said in his May 23 proclamation that the state was making additional shelter sites available as local agencies responded to the incident. NBC Los Angeles published emergency resource information for residents seeking evacuation and shelter guidance. (usnews.com) ### Why were outside experts called in? Reuters reported that firefighters brought in outside experts because routine firefighting measures had not eliminated the risk. The incident commander said crews were trying to prevent a catastrophe as the tank continued heating up. KTLA reported that officials were preparing for the worst at a 34,000-gallon storage tank at GKN Aerospace as they weighed technical options. (gov.ca.gov) Orange County education officials said on May 24 that overnight work at the site had yielded “positive intel,” but they did not say the danger had ended. Air monitoring by the South Coast Air Quality Management District and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had not found contaminants in nearby air as of Sunday morning, according to the Orange County Register. (usnews.com) ### What does the price-gouging warning actually cover? Attorney General Rob Bonta said on May 23 that California’s price-gouging law applies during the declared emergency in Orange County. His office said the law bars charging more than 10% above pre-emergency prices for many goods and services, including housing, hotel rooms, food, emergency supplies, repair work and transportation. (newsroom.ocde.us) Bonta’s office said Californians who believe they were overcharged can report suspected violations to local authorities or to the attorney general through the state reporting portal. The alert was tied directly to Newsom’s emergency declaration over the Garden Grove chemical incident. ### What should residents watch next? May 24 response updates from Orange County fire officials, school districts and state agencies are the main public checkpoints as crews continue to assess the tank. (oag.ca.gov) Newsom’s office said state assistance and shelter capacity had been expanded, and local emergency pages were publishing resource updates for evacuees. (gov.ca.gov)