{"id":355005,"date":"2026-06-10T18:08:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T18:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/355005\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T18:08:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T18:08:09","slug":"fbi-seizing-evidence-at-california-plant-where-chemical-tank-overheated-and-forced-evacuations-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/355005\/","title":{"rendered":"FBI seizing evidence at California plant where chemical tank overheated and forced evacuations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Federal authorities served a search warrant on Wednesday at a Southern California aerospace facility where a chemical tank<\/a> overheated last month, forcing 50,000 residents to evacuate.\n <\/p>\n

\n The warrant signed by a federal judge last week approved the seizure of documents and records related to the \u201cstorage, use, or disposal\u201d of methyl methacrylate, the chemical inside the affected tank.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cSamples of the substance within any tank, tote, drum, vat, vessel, or container suspected of containing or having previously contained methyl methacrylate and\/or any hazardous substance\u201d were also sought, according to the warrant.\n <\/p>\n

\n The warrant also orders agents to seize records related to \u201cany cooling equipment or other equipment used to control or regulate the temperature of methyl methacrylate.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The FBI confirmed its agents were searching GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems in the Orange County city of Garden Grove. GKN Aerospace spokesperson Sarah Hasse Blodgett didn\u2019t immediately respond to requests for comment.\n <\/p>\n

\n GKN Aerospace makes cockpit windows, canopies and windshields. The tank that overheated contained 6,000 to 7,000 gallons (22,700 to 26,500 liters) of methyl methacrylate, which is highly flammable. The liquid is used in the manufacturing of plastics and coatings, such as Plexiglas and dental prosthetics\n <\/p>\n

\n Exposure to the chemical can cause serious respiratory problems, neurological issues and irritation to the skin, eyes and throat, according to the Environmental Protection Agency<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

\n Responding to a request for comment on the FBI investigation, a GKN spokesperson told the AP on Wednesday morning: \u201cWe are cooperating with authorities at our Garden Grove facility and will continue to do so.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n GKN\u2019s Steve Carlin spoke at a community meeting Tuesday evening. He thanked the firefighters and local leaders who responded to the incident at the plant that employs more than 500 people, and apologized to the community.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cOn behalf of GKN and the Garden Grove plant I want to say that I\u2019m sorry that this event and this incident occurred. I understand and I realized sitting here tonight what a disruptive event it was and how unsettling it is to the greater community. Particularly unsettling to us at GKN because of the long history that we have with Garden Grove and how connected we are to this community.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Separately, the Orange County District Attorney\u2019s Office also is conducting a criminal investigation into the GKN Aerospace plant, according to DA spokesperson Kimberly Edds.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe have sent a preservation letter to GKN directing them not to modify or destroy any evidence, which the company\u2019s outside counsel confirmed receipt,\u201d Edds told The Associated Press in an email.\n <\/p>\n

\n About a dozen people and businesses that were among the 50,000 evacuated during the chemical emergency have filed federal lawsuits against the company.\n <\/p>\n

\n County health officials assured residents that no contamination or fumes were released, and that they would keep monitoring the air for several months and checking the sewer and storm drains.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Federal authorities served a search warrant on Wednesday at a Southern California aerospace facility where a chemical tank…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":355006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":["post-355005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355005","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=355005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/355006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}