Efforts to clean up the damaged chemical storage tank in Garden Grove were delayed Thursday as the Orange County community was set to voice more concerns during a city council meeting.
The city council meeting was scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Thursday, with community members expected to attend and voce their concerns.
Orange County Health Care Agency officials planned to begin the process of removing methyl methacrylate, or MMA, from the compromised tank on Thursday or Friday, but a delay in delivery of sealed trucks needed for the job may delay those plans.
Once the cleanup begins, people living nearby may notice temporary odors, described as fruity or plastic-like” during the process, but officials stressed they do not pose a health risk.
Nearly two weeks after over 50,000 residents and business owners were forced out their homes and shops last month amid the overheating of a 34,000-gallon chemical tank at the GKN Aerospace facility, the company announced Wednesday that it will provide $4 million in community assistance.
But it was not immediately clear how victims will be compensated.
“Just for those couple of days that we had to evacuate, it was a little bit over $600, just for the hotel room, but then we had to keep the food and buy clothes and stuff,” said Jennifer Caballero, who had to stay in hotel rooms during the mass evacuation.
It was also not clear who would qualify for compensation, and how much victims would be awarded.
“$3 million is not enough. We know this is more than just dollars and cents. We know the emotional toll this took on people,” said Garden Grove Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein. “Not only do we want to make sure that cost and recovery efforts continue, but we want to make people whole. We want to make sure we hold GKN accountable and that they face the community and speak to the community directly as well.”
NBC Los Angeles reached out to GKN Aerospace fore information on the funding, but the company did not respond.
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