An Orange County Superior Court judge on Monday approved a $125 million settlement with the operators of a Garden Grove plastics manufacturing plant where a chemical leak forced thousands of people from their homes and businesses in May.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, the settlement will set aside up to $100 million for approximately 50,000 residents who were forced to evacuate because of the hazardous materials emergency at the GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems Inc. plant. First responders who handled the Memorial Day weekend emergency will be reimbursed $8,471,385.50 under the agreement.
The company also agreed to seven years of monitoring, including oversight by an independent expert to ensure the plant complies with applicable laws and regulations. GKN will pay $1.4 million for that monitoring…