Legal Trouble Mounts For Company That Owned Faulty Chemical Tank In OC

GARDEN GROVE, CA — Legal troubles are mounting for the company that owns the compromised chemical storage tank at an aerospace facility in Garden Grove, after 29 claims against them were filed in Orange County Superior Court and about eight in federal court.

The lawsuits come after last Thursday's emergency evacuations of roughly 50,000 residents.

In one suit seeking class status in state court, residents Diana Guadarrama, Jip Kang, Eduardo Pateyro and Linda Rodriguez live 1.5-miles from the plant.

Guadarrama left her home following evacuation orders Friday and initially got a hotel room and later went to go stay at a relative's home. Kang did the same and later stayed with family in Anaheim. He said it was difficult to find shelter because his child has asthma and cannot reside in close quarters with so many other people, according to the suit.

Pateyro left his home with family and found shelter with relative. Rodriguez finally found a room in a Fullerton hotel, which was difficult "due to high demand and inflated prices," according to the suit.

The chemical leak was originally reported on Thursday, May 21, after a tank at GKN Aerospace in Garden Grove began venting toxic chemical vapors.

Within the span of a night, the north Orange County town would make national headlines after officials warned that the faulty tank would either either leak or explode, triggering massive evacuations and closures.

According to authorities, there was a potential of a blast or flash fire over many city blocks.

Residents returned to their homes and students went back to classes in Garden Grove Wednesday, one day after all evacuation orders were lifted.

Unified Incident Commander Craig Covey and Garden Grove Police Department Chief Amir El-Farra broke the good news to residents at a special meeting of the Garden Grove City Council on the emergency Tuesday night.

"I'm happy to report the lifting of evacuations in its entirety immediately," El-Farra said. "Everyone can return to their homes. Thank you for your understanding and patience."

Roughly 16,000 people were under evacuation orders Tuesday due to continued concerns about the storage tank at the GKN Aerospace facility at 12122 Western Ave.

Multiple residents called on the City Council Tuesday night to crack down on GKN Aerospace, questioning why a company handling such chemicals could be operating as close as it is to homes, schools and businesses.

Garden Grove Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein told residents, "There must be accountability. GKN must be held accountable."

Evacuation orders affected about 50,000 people at the height of the crisis. The orders were lifted for about 34,000 people over the weekend when officials determined that a crack in the main storage tank had relieved pressure inside, eliminating the risk of a possible explosion that had prompted the large-scale evacuations.

A county health department official said residents should feel safe as they return home because there was no leak and no contamination.

GKN Aerospace posted an updated statement Wednesday saying, "We are deeply grateful to the emergency personnel, technical experts, the GKN site team and local, state and federal agencies, who have worked around the clock to ensure the safety of our community. We apologize for the disruption this incident has caused and as we turn to the immediate relief and recovery effort, we will continue to work with local officials, community partners and nonprofit organizations to support affected residents, businesses and the wider community."

City News Service contributed to this report.

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