Following the mass evacuation of Garden Grove residents community members faced with economic crises are demanding compensation
Over Memorial Day Weekend, a chemical tank emergency resulted in the mass evacuations of roughly 50,000 residents across Garden Grove and neighboring Orange County cities.
The site of this concern took place at the GKN Aerospace plant in Garden Grove, where a tank containing the highly flammable industrial chemical methyl methacrylate was rapidly rising in temperature. Following the diffusion of the tank’s threat of exploding and residents’ permission to return to their homes, this crisis is far from resolved.
After these sudden displacements, many families attest to the expensive inconvenience that was bestowed upon them. Racking up hundreds of dollars a night for hotel rooms outside of the evacuation zone was not in anybody’s financial plan going into this year, and many residents are grappling with economic consequences.
Other families who could not afford sleeping in a hotel for the five nights were forced into uncomfortable living situations. Having nowhere to go, some evacuees sought refuge in their cars.
In addition to residents quickly needing to find shelter for the five days of evacuation, business owners have struggled immensely as well, some attesting to losing tens of thousands of dollars during the shutdown.
The beloved small business Harry’s Cafe in Stanton took an extreme financial hit. “We had things stocked up for the Memorial Day weekend rush,” Evodio Pantaleon told NBCLA at the diner in Spanish. “Tomatoes, lettuce for burgers, chicken, steak, everything had to be thrown away.”
The outraged citizens of Garden Grove are seeking justice for this unprecedented threat, and have started filing class action lawsuits demanding better accountability. Additionally, several residents have been fighting for the removal or relocation of the aerospace facility, questioning why this plant was ever placed in a residential area to begin with.
Amidst the tension and rising complaints of residents, Officials have been responding to the concerns as well as working on ensuring further harm is prevented. Today, the tank full of chemicals is being drained, and a close watch of the air quality is being monitored.
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GKN Aerospace has already pledged about $5 million in response to the emergency so far, but residents want concrete assurance that this incident was a one-and-done. At a meeting held at the Garden Grove Community Meeting Center on May 26, residents packed the seats and came prepared with complaints, ready to seek justice.
“Why was GKN Aerospace allowed to use MMA explosives within a one-mile radius of schools and family homes?” posed Garden Grove resident Sandy Ishii, which prompted a roar of applause and yells of agreement. The meeting escalated to the point of Garden Grove Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein asking the attendees to leave amidst the overlap of raised voices and public outcry.
Following this heated gathering, Officials encouraged Orange County locals to attend tonight’s meeting at the Garden Grove Community Meeting Center to voice their ongoing concerns as the community begins to earn back their trust. More information can be found at https://ggcity.org/, and the meeting will be livestreamed at www.ggcity.org/ggtv3-live.
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