Guest Commentary written by
Veronica Herrera
Veronica Herrera is a professor of urban planning at UCLA and a researcher studying the effects of the plastics supply chain on health and the environment.
Tens of thousands of Garden Grove residents recently returned home after a cracked chemical tank prompted evacuations. The incident in late May exposed a large and ongoing threat: California communities are vulnerable to dangerous accidents tied to the plastics supply chain.
GKN Aerospace owns the tank that cracked. It produces chemicals used to manufacture plastics. A tank like the one in Garden Grove is a key part of the plastics supply chain, and warehouse raw materials for the plastics industry…