GARDEN GROVE, Calif. — Months after a Memorial Day weekend chemical emergency in Garden Grove that forced tens of thousands of residents to temporarily evacuate, locals said they are left with unanswered questions about their safety and what’s happening next.
Dwight Hua lives within the same square block of GKN Aerospace, where officials say on May 21 the company’s tank’s refrigeration system malfunctioned and caused the methyl methacrylate inside to heat up quickly.
It is a substance used to make plastics.
GKN had written in an Aug. 26 update that it had targeted Sept. 28 as a date to return to full production.
“GKN is targeting a phased resumption of operations over the days and weeks ahead, subject to all necessary permits, and working with relevant officials and experts to do so,” the company said in a statement sent this month. “The gradual return to full production beyond this will be done with safety as top priority and in accordance with a court-approved safety plan.”
Garden Grove Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein addressed the company’s operations in a video posted on GGTV’s YouTube page.
“I want to be very clear. GKN’s Garden Grove facility cannot and will not be fully resuming operations today, Sept. 28.”
She added that the safety plan from GKN, which needs to be submitted to the court, has not happened yet. She also called on the company to make good on promises to pay reimbursements to affected residents and hold a community event to provide updates.
Hua said the city could do more to hold GKN accountable.
“The City Council has a lot of power on land use, zoning. Even when they’re doing these investigations, they should have passed a moratorium to pause any sort of new and existing facility so they can’t expand when there’s such a crisis that has happened and affected our community.”
He said he still feels scared to be at his home, which is a 20-minute walk from the GKN facility.