Evacuation orders reissued and expanded, schools closed in Garden Grove as crews work to halt toxic chemical leak coming from tank

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. () — Evacuation orders were reissued Friday for thousands of residents and schools were closed in Garden Grove due to continued concerns about a toxic chemical leaking from a large storage tank at an aerospace facility.

Evacuation orders were issued Friday morning for the area north of Trask Avenue, south of Ball Road, east of Valley View Street and west of Dale Street. Evacuation centers were established at Stanton City Hall, 7800 Katella Ave., and Garden Grove Sports & Recreation Center, 13641 Deodara Drive.

The leak at GKN Aerospace at Western and Lampson avenues was initially reported around 3:30 p.m. Thursday. Orange County Fire Authority officials said an industrial chemical had become overheated inside a 34,000-gallon tank, prompting a release of vapors into the air.

Rep. Derek Tran, D-Westminster, said the leak involved “methyl methacrylate, a volatile and flammable chemical.” Methyl methacrylate is a liquid used to make acrylic plastics.

Fire crews began spraying the tank with water in effort to cool it down, but in the meantime, buildings from Western Avenue to Beach Boulevard, and from Garden Grove Boulevard to Orangewood Avenue were evacuated, Garden Grove Police Department Sgt. Nick Jensen said.

Those evacuation orders, along with orders for the area along Lampson Avenue from Santa Rosalia Avenue to Western Avenue, were lifted at 8:40 p.m. Thursday, although street closures in the area — including Western Avenue from Garden Grove Boulevard to Chapman Avenue and Lampson Avenue from Santa Rosalia to Western avenues — remained in effect.

Early Friday morning, however, the OCFA announced that “due to changing conditions,” the evacuation orders were being reissued.

“We have a tank that is actively in crisis, for lack of a better word,” OCFA Division Chief Craig Covey said in a videotaped announcement that was posted on social media. “We’ve been working very, very hard to mitigate it with both the manufacturing company, their third-party contractor to mitigate these types of incidents, as well as our hazmat teams.”

While crews were initially successful, Covey said, officials on Friday morning determined that “the tank that is in the biggest crisis is, in fact, unable to be secured and mitigated in the current information we’re getting from the manufacturer.

“There are literally two options left remaining: one, the tank fails and spills a total of about six-to-seven thousand gallons of very bad chemicals into the parking lot in that area — or two, the tank goes into a thermal runaway and blows up, affecting the tanks around them that have chemicals in them as well,” Covey said.

Tran issued a statement Friday saying he was “closely monitoring” the situation.

“My office is in close contact with local police, fire, and emergency response officials as they work to contain the hazardous materials, assess air quality, and ensure residents and first responders are safe,” he said. “I am in contact with federal disaster relief officials, including FEMA and the EPA, to urge them to provide any available federal assistance for Garden Grove. I encourage everyone in the affected area to follow guidance from local authorities and avoid the impacted zones until further guidance is issued.”

GKN Aerospace, a leading global supplier of vehicle and aircraft components, manufactures acrylic plastics.

No injuries have been reported.

It was unclear what caused the tank to overheat.

The Garden Grove Unified School District announced that classes were canceled until further notice at the following campuses:

— Barker Elementary School;

— Bryant;

— Carver;

— Enders Elementary School;

— Garden Park;

— Lawrence Elementary School;

— Wakeham Elementary School;

— Patton Elementary School;

— Bell Intermediate School;

— Alamitos Intermediate;

— Pacifica High School;

— Rancho Alamitos High School;

— Skylark Preschool;

— Maintenance and Operations Facility; and

— Lampson Bus Yard.

Gov. Gavin Newsom “has been briefed on the chemical leak in Garden Grove,” the governor’s office said in a statement, adding that the state’s Office of Emergency Services “and multiple state agencies are engaged and have been coordinating with local authorities since the incident emerged last night. Our office continues to closely monitor the situation, and we urge residents in impacted areas to follow guidance from emergency officials.”

City News Service contributed to this report.