Orange County health officials are walking back a claim that no vapor or fumes were released during a chemical tank crisis at a Garden Grove aerospace company two weeks ago, but state officials maintain that any leak did not pose a major health risk to the public.
The Los Angeles Times asked the Orange County Healthcare Agency about the statement of Health Officer Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong, who during a media briefing on Memorial Day said that “there was no contamination, there were no fumes, there were no vapors that came from this incident, there was no leak.”
Chinsio-Kwong’s statement seemed to contradict repeated statements by officials with the Orange County Fire Authority, whose leaders said they responded on May 21 to a crippled pressurized tank at a Garden Grove aerospace firm that was “off-gassing with some fumes,” and that there was “a vapor release from a tank containing an industrial chemical used in plastic and manufacturing,” and that rising temperature forced the activation of a relief valve…