The recent chemical plant emergency in Garden Grove should be a wake-up call for all of Southern California, home to the de facto nuclear waste dump site at San Onofre, just south of San Clemente.
In Garden Grove, the threat from a tank holding roughly 7,000 gallons of a common hazardous industrial liquid — about one-third the volume of a typical backyard swimming pool — was enough to force the evacuation of a reported 50,000 residents, close schools and roads, open emergency shelters and mobilize a massive public-safety response.
Families had to leave their homes. Businesses were disrupted. Residents waited daily for updates from public agencies and company officials, fearing the overheating and bulging tank would rupture and spill its contents or even explode…