{"id":331486,"date":"2026-05-25T10:38:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T10:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/331486\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T10:38:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T10:38:19","slug":"potential-crack-on-california-toxic-chemical-tank-could-be-easing-pressure-as-officials-race-to-prevent-explosion-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/331486\/","title":{"rendered":"Potential crack on California toxic chemical tank could be easing pressure as officials race to prevent explosion"},"content":{"rendered":"

LA PALMA, Calif. \u2014\u00a0A potential crack may be releasing pressure inside a toxic chemical tank in Southern California<\/a>, officials said Sunday, a development they hope could help avert a devastating vapor explosion.<\/p>\n

The tank holds methyl methacrylate, a toxic chemical used to manufacture resins and plastics.<\/p>\n

Concerns over a possible explosion or leak have prompted evacuation orders for tens of thousands of residents, many of whom are staying in shelters.<\/p>\n

The possible crack was identified during a visual inspection of the 7,000-gallon tank Saturday night at the GKN Aerospace facility in Garden Grove, interim Orange County Fire Chief TJ McGovern said Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith this new information, it could change our trajectory and our strategy to this event,\u201d he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Steam<\/p>\n

Officials spraying water onto the storage tanks at GKN Aerospace in Garden Grove, Calif. on Sunday. (Kayla Bartkowski \/ Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

(Kayla Bartkowski)\"A<\/p>\n

The company said Sunday it was monitoring the condition of the \u201caffected material\u201d and crews are working \u201caround the clock to mitigate the risk of a leak.\u201d (Kayla Bartkowski \/ Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

(Kayla Bartkowski)<\/p>\n

McGovern told NBC News that crews are looking to confirm that the crack is releasing pressure in the tank. If it is, it means \u201cthe potential of a BLEVE [boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion] is now off the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an update Sunday night, McGovern said<\/a> crews would be conducting an \u201call-night mission\u201d to confirm whether the pressure in the tank has been released. An update about that mission will come Monday, the chief said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s still a potential for explosion,\u201d he said earlier, but if pressure is released, the threat of a BLEVE, which he described as \u201cvery, very dangerous, much worse than an explosion,\u201d could be averted.<\/p>\n

If a BLEVE is still possible, the evacuation zone will be much larger, but if that concern is ruled out, the evacuation zone can be smaller and crews would then focus on cooling the tank, he said.<\/p>\n

McGovern added that air monitoring has shown the possible fissure has not led to the release of toxic air.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Officials are concerned the tank at GKN Aerospace could rupture and release toxic material into waterways and vapors into the air. (Kayla Bartkowski \/ Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

(Kayla Bartkowski)<\/p>\n

The Orange County Fire Authority said early Monday that one of three tanks at the facility had been neutralized by introducing a compound into it, but that the other two \u2014 including the affected tank \u2014 have not.<\/p>\n

The authority quashed reports that there may be more than one crack on the tank. \u201cThere is also peeling of the weather stripping on the exterior, but this is not an additional crack. There is currently no active leak, and continuous live atmospheric monitoring confirms there are no chemicals leaking,\u201d it said in a post on X.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for GKN Aerospace said Sunday<\/a> that the company is monitoring the condition of the \u201caffected material\u201d and that crews are working \u201caround the clock to mitigate the risk of a leak.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the tank explodes, it could also set off a blast in a nearby 15,000-gallon tank and a 4,500-gallon tank that also hold methyl methacrylate, Division Chief Craig Covey, the Orange County fire incident commander, told NBC News.<\/p>\n

Officials are also concerned the tank could rupture and release toxic material into waterways.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re talking about possibly one of the worst chemical incidents in California history,\u201d Covey said.<\/p>\n

Officials say the blast radius, which stretches up to half a mile, would cause severe structural damage and most likely disperse toxic vapors into the air.<\/p>\n

Shelters in Orange County are filling up with frantic locals as 50,000 people are under evacuation orders.<\/p>\n

Lydia Green, who lives in Anaheim, about a mile from the facility, is one of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m feeling nervous, scared, devastated,\u201d Green told NBC News on Sunday at a shelter at John F. Kennedy High School in nearby La Palma. \u201cI\u2019ve been without my medication, my basic needs \u2014 food, hotels, we haven\u2019t had a hotel. It\u2019s been very hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Empty streets in Garden Grove, Calif., on Sunday. Shelters in Orange County are filling up with frantic locals as 50,000 people are under evacuation orders. (Ethan Swope \/ AP)<\/p>\n

(Ethan Swope)<\/p>\n

She and her partner, Eugene Smith, had been sleeping in their car. Smith described the ordeal as \u201clike living in a nightmare,\u201d and he fears a devastating explosion and its aftermath.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlowing up and then contaminating everything. Everything. That\u2019s where we live at. That\u2019s our home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Jaden Gebeleinis was also at the shelter and said he was nervous, as he lives in the border of the evacuation zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of anger. … I feel like why there are these facilities right next to a bunch of houses? And it makes me upset, too,\u201d he said. \u201cYou hope that it gets managed well and then the worst-case scenario doesn\u2019t happen, because those are people\u2019s houses, and it\u2019s probably going to affect a lot bigger of a radius than they let on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

Evacuees at a temporary shelter in Garden Grove on Friday. (Blake Fagan \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

(Blake Fagan)<\/p>\n

The American Red Cross<\/a> said Sunday that six shelters scattered around the region for evacuees are nearing or at capacity for overnight stays.<\/p>\n

McGovern said there\u2019s no timeline just yet for when residents may be able to return home.<\/p>\n

Concern first bubbled up Thursday with a \u201cvapor release\u201d at the 7,000-gallon tank, Orange County fire officials said. Further investigation found that the tank\u2019s temperatures were rising.<\/p>\n

Firefighters have been using sprinklers and hose lines to cool the tank. McGovern said that during a team operation Saturday night, crews saw that the pin on the temperature gauge was displaying 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the highest level it shows, meaning actual temperatures in the tank could be higher.<\/p>\n

Garden Grove is in northern Orange County, about 35 miles southeast of Los Angeles and 4 miles from Disneyland in Anaheim.<\/p>\n

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Orange County on Saturday. On Sunday, he requested that President Donald Trump issue an emergency declaration<\/a> to support response operations in the county.<\/p>\n

McGovern said officials are working collaboratively and using \u201coutside-the-box thinking\u201d to come up with a solution and get families back in their homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to get them back,\u201d he said, \u201cbut I will assure you we will not get them back until it\u2019s safe to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steve Patterson and Shanshan Dong reported from La Palma and Marlene Lenthang from Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LA PALMA, Calif. \u2014\u00a0A potential crack may be releasing pressure inside a toxic chemical tank in Southern California,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":331487,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,34746,11078,12167,136494,43433,137450,611,65694,136842,137449],"class_list":["post-331486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-evacuation-orders","tag-garden-grove","tag-getty-images","tag-gkn-aerospace","tag-kayla-bartkowski","tag-mcgovern","tag-orange-county","tag-tank","tag-the-tank","tag-vapor-explosion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}