Hazardous materials cleanup is finally scheduled to take place at GKN Aerospace in Garden Grove next week, a month after a compromised chemical tank at risk of exploding or leaking caused tens of thousands of Orange County residents to evacuate their homes.
The Monday cleanup date comes after the previous round of cleanup with postponed in early June due to a lack of “needed resources” to transport the now-neutralized methyl methacrylate (MMA) at the center of the chemical crisis in May. At the time, Orange County Fire Authority officials said that the tank’s cooling system had failed, which placed the tank at risk of a massive leak or “catastrophic explosion.”
Orange County Health Care Agency officials advised the public that while cleanup is ongoing, they could smell temporary odors in the area, and that air monitoring would be underway throughout the process. They advised that the chemical compound smells fruity with a “very low odor threshold,” meaning that people could notice the smell even if concentrations are at very low levels…