Above image: Garden Grove, California, and location of GKN Aerospace. Credit: Google Earth
On May 23, 2026, California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a State of Emergency for Orange County as approximately 50,000 residents were ordered to evacuate due to a chemical tank leak at the aircraft parts manufacturer GKN Aerospace’s production facility in Garden Grove.
The leaking tank held 7,000 gallons of methyl methacrylate (MMA), a highly volatile, and toxic chemical used to make synthetic adhesives, plastics, and resins found in a wide variety of products—from artificial nail products to construction adhesives, dental prostheses to latex paints, and much more. Denser than air and quick to evaporate, MMA can persist at ground level as a flammable vapor where it induces dizziness, nausea, and respiratory and skin irritation. Experts warned that the leaking tank, which began heating up after a valve in its cooling system failed, could cause a potentially catastrophic explosion similar to that which occurred in East Palestine, Ohio, in March 2023.
Nearly 800 state and local first responders and emergency personnel, including hazmat specialists, were activated to respond to the unfolding disaster. Responders immediately attempted to cool the tank with water cannons and contain its leaking contents to prevent the worst from happening, all while monitoring its rising temperature using drones. By evening on May 26, authorities reported that the threat of a catastrophic explosion was eliminated, as the tank had cracked enough to relieve pressure without completely rupturing.
What’s more, this crisis is far from over. The GKN Aerospace facility where the tank leaked has a history of pollution reporting and other compliance violations that threaten the safety of the surrounding community. How the chemical release may affect residents in and around Garden Grove now and into the future has yet to be understood. Some residents reported itchy skin, nosebleeds, and the death of pet birds in the immediate aftermath of the leak. While federal officials have deployed air monitors in the area to determine safety, many residents no longer trust the air after this incident. Community advocates are calling on Garden Grove’s local leaders to shut down GKN Aerospace and pause construction and expansion of military manufacturing facilities in the city.
While the risk of immediate catastrophe appears to have passed, the events that led up to potential disaster are further proof that chemical, fossil fuel, and plastics companies need stronger regulation to ensure the safety of all Americans. Unfortunately, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency continues to eliminate key environmental protections, including regulations that could help prevent chemical disasters like this from happening in the future.
As Break Free From Plastic points out, “a major chemical incident happens every two days on average in the U.S., where over half of all residents live in a worst-case-scenario disaster zone for the nation’s highest-risk industrial facilities.”
Plastic Pollution Coalition and other Members of the Break Free from Plastic Movement Weigh in on the Disaster:
While the imminent crisis of a chemical explosion appears to have been stemmed, make no mistake that the chemical disaster in Garden Grove, California, is still unfolding. The health and lives of people are threatened by plastics and plastic chemicals from their production and storage through manufacturing, shipping, use, and disposal. Everyone is harmed by plastics, and those on the frontlines of plastic manufacturing and disposal bear some of the greatest risks of harm by hazardous pollution and industrial accidents—including explosions, fires, spills, and other dangers. Frontline communities deserve protection from further harm, and that requires stopping plastic pollution at the source—starting with fossil fuel and plastic production.
— Julia Cohen, MPH, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Plastic Pollution Coalition
This past week in Southern California, communities in East L.A. faced a 2,400 gallon oil spill from a ruptured pipeline while evacuated Garden Grove residents spent the weekend fearing a deadly explosion. These events are connected. Like most chemicals used to make plastic, the MMA leaked in Garden Grove is derived from oil and gas.
At Black Women for Wellness, we’ve spent many years educating about the toxic cycle of plastic pollution and fighting oil and gas operations that drive it here in Los Angeles County. As we work to phase out fossil fuels and limit plastic production, we must protect frontline communities with strong health and safety measures, better notification systems and community-informed repair. Oil transport and toxic chemical storage most often occur in communities of color, where industries continually place residents in harm’s way but aren’t being held accountable. Industries must pay for clean up and harms incurred.
— Tianna Shaw Wakeman, Environmental Justice Program Director, Black Women for Wellness
Plastic and petrochemical production harms communities through direct emissions, leaks and threats of catastrophic explosions where families live, work and go to school. Tens of thousands of residents should never have to evacuate their homes because of a preventable industrial threat. Plastics and petrochemicals, including MMA, are a public health emergency that must be prevented at the source. Garden Grove communities deserve better.
— Environmental Justice Communities Against Plastics Coalition (EJCAP)
Evacuation orders might have been lifted for Garden Grove residents, but this is just the beginning of a long and necessary fight for their human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. The GKN plastic facility’s toxic release into the surrounding community is a situation that our communities along the Houston Ship Channel are very familiar with. Community members are urged to document symptoms not only in themselves but also in small pets and children, as their bodies are smaller and more susceptible to lower levels of exposure.
Multigenerational effects are the real threat. We are learning everyday of the new health impacts plastics have on our bodies, and the true toxic harm won’t be clear until much later on. From the petrochemical explosions we face in Houston, or the vinyl chloride train derailment in Ohio, we know EPA and other well-meaning officials may be underestimating the true cost this disaster has inflicted on Garden Grove. — Yvette Arellano, Executive Director, Fenceline Watch
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