{"id":332146,"date":"2026-05-25T22:53:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T22:53:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/332146\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T22:53:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T22:53:18","slug":"gov-gavin-newsom-other-california-leaders-request-federal-emergency-declaration-for-garden-grove-chemical-threat-press-telegram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/332146\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Gavin Newsom, other California leaders request federal emergency declaration for Garden Grove chemical threat \u2013 Press Telegram"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gov. Gavin Newsom<\/a> has formally requested a federal emergency declaration to aid with the ongoing response at a chemical storage tank<\/a> at a Garden Grove aerospace company.<\/p>\n

For update, see: Federal government approves emergency declaration amid chemical threat<\/a><\/p>\n

Experts and emergency crews have been working since Thursday to try to prevent a potentially catastrophic chemical spill or explosion at GKN Aerospace<\/a>. The tank is filled with 7,000 gallons of a highly flammable chemical called methyl methacrylate<\/a>. Crews have so far been unable to find a solution to end the threat posed by the tank, from which a blast could damage hundreds of homes and buildings in the area and create a toxic plume in the immediate vicinity.<\/p>\n

The request is for federal cost-share support for \u201curgent, lifesaving and life-sustaining actions,\u201d Newsom\u2019s office said, which includes evacuations, emergency medical support, shelter and \u201cother protective operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornia doesn\u2019t wait for disaster to unfold; we act early to protect lives and communities,\u201d Newsom said in a written statement. \u201cWorking together with our local and federal partners, we\u2019re strengthening our ability to respond quickly and effectively in Garden Grove and across the surrounding communities and ensuring that first responders have the resources they need to keep people safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., as well as Rep. Derek Tran, D-Cypress, also sent a letter<\/a> to President Donald Trump<\/a>, urging him to approve the emergency declaration request.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe severity of this disaster requires additional coordination and federal support,\u201d the trio said. \u201cTherefore, we urge you to expeditiously approve California\u2019s request for an Emergency Declaration and to provide emergency protective measures and direct federal assistance under the public assistance program for Orange County. The safety, security, and well-being of evacuated residents and the surrounding communities remain our absolute highest priority. Thank you for your timely consideration of this request.\u201d<\/p>\n

A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.<\/p>\n

But earlier Sunday, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin said his team was already in California<\/a> to assist in the chemical threat at GKN Aerospace on Western Avenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tank will fail, but much work is being done to mitigate the danger and protect the health of residents and responders in the area,\u201d Zeldin said on social media.<\/p>\n

An emergency declaration supplements state and local efforts to provide emergency services, \u201csuch as the protection of lives, property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in any part of the United States,\u201d according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Newsom\u2019s office said such a declaration could also help with various emergency protective measures, including helping to pay for equipment and overtime as local agencies keep people safe. And it would allow FEMA to provide additional services, including technical support and specialized equipment, Newsom\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause California requested this Emergency Declaration early, federal support can flow in while the incident is still unfolding, strengthening the proactive posture that state and local teams have already taken in Orange County, rather than waiting until the full extent of the damage is known,\u201d Newsom\u2019s office said in a news release.<\/p>\n

Newsom already declared a state of emergency in Orange County<\/a> on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n

The emergency proclamation by Newsom unlocks additional resources for local officials and directs state emergency operations officials to focus on supporting local authorities in grappling with the ongoing emergency.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe safety of Orange County residents is the top priority,\u201d Newsom said then. \u201cWe are mobilizing every state resource available to support local responders and make sure the community has what they need to stay safe.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. Gavin Newsom has formally requested a federal emergency declaration to aid with the ongoing response at a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332147,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,7,8,400,1751,11078,136570,457,100,611,13,4036,6737],"class_list":["post-332146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-california","tag-california-news","tag-california-politics","tag-democrats","tag-garden-grove","tag-garden-grove-chemical-threat","tag-gavin-newsom","tag-news","tag-orange-county","tag-politics","tag-stanton","tag-westminster"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332146","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=332146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332146\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}