Residents and city council members in Garden Grove and Stanton are demanding accountability and financial reparations for people and businesses who evacuated during the chemical tank emergency at GKN Aerospace.
“We’re going to compile everything we have to get to the bottom of this. We will hold GKN accountable,” Garden Grove Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein said at Tuesday’s council meeting. “We’ve never experienced anything like this, it’s completely unprecedented.”
Roughly four miles away that same night, Stanton City Council members raised similar concerns at their meeting.
“Who’s going to pay the bills?” Stanton Mayor David Shawver said at the city’s Tuesday council meeting. “At this particular point, everything should be going in the direction of the company that was responsible.”
Officials in both cities are pushing for some type of reimbursement programs for impacted residents and businesses.
Before evacuations were lifted, OC Fire Authority officials feared at one point the chemical tank would lead to a massive explosion that could’ve damaged homes and businesses – along with releasing toxic chemicals into the working class community off Western Avenue in Garden Grove, with Stanton borders sitting nearby.
[Read: Orange County Chemical Emergency: ‘A Leaking Tank or a Tank That Blows Up’]
On Tuesday, both cities held their respective city council meetings after officials reshuffled their originally scheduled meetings to focus on the chemical tank situation at GKN Aerospace.
That same night, OC Fire Authority officials announced the remaining evacuations had been lifted, allowing the remaining 16,000 evacuees to return home.
[Read: Evacuations End in Garden Grove Chemical Tank Emergency]
Now residents are left wondering who’s going to pay them back for unanticipated expenses for things like hotel stays, meals, emergency medication and lost wages – while business owners question how they’re going to make up for lost revenue.
[Read: OC Residents Impacted by Faulty Chemical Tank May Get Reimbursed]
And many – especially in Garden Grove – raised questions over who’s going to be held accountable while also criticizing elected officials for allowing industrial plants like GKN Aerospace to operate so close to homes.
Garden Grove Residents Demand Accountability
On Tuesday, Garden Grove City Council members held a special meeting focused solely on the chemical tank emergency in the community center meeting room where over 250 people showed up.
“I’m here to demand that the city hold GKN accountable for their negligence and their repeated environmental violations that have placed our communities at risk,” said Garden Grove resident Christine Lopez during the public comment portion of Tuesday’s meeting.
For over two hours, scores of residents – including some people from nearby cities – sounded off on the chemical tank situation.
Some lambasted GKN Aerospace for the situation while others criticized local and county officials for not having enough shelters in place when evacuations kicked off.
“Evacuees have had to sleep in their cars or tents because the city has failed to open shelters in any timely manner. This failure to meet the needs of tens of thousands of Orange County residents does not bode well for any sort of emergency response,” resident Nathan Tran said. “The city should have contingencies to properly house those affected by emergencies.”
Many residents demanded that Garden Grove city officials push facilities like GKN Aerospace out of town.
At a few points, the meeting had to be paused due to residents shouting from the audience – with police officers eventually clearing the community meeting room late Tuesday night.
Garden Grove City Council members said they understand residents’ frustrations.
“Some families had to leave their homes with very little notice. Some businesses had to close. Some employees lost work hours,” Mayor Klopfenstein said. “Many people are left anxious, angry and uncertain about what comes next.”
“Yes, we hear you. We know this emergency has been frightening, stressful and disruptive,” Councilman Phillip Nguyen said. “Many people are understandably anxious about what comes next.”
Councilman Geroge Breitigam said officials will evaluate the emergency response.
“I’m frustrated, I’m angry. It was a lot of success and a lot of failures,” Breitigam said. “We’re going to remedy that – the failures will be fixed.”
Like some of the residents who spoke during public comment, Breitigam said he saw the struggles of getting people evacuated.
“I saw the travesty of people sleeping in their cars, old people being turned away, the constant movement of evacuation centers,” he said. “It caused a lot of confusion, a lot of angst from the community – for those people who had no other means.”
Councilwoman Yesenia Muñeton said it’s time for GKN Aerospace to be held accountable.
“I want to make sure that we stay accountable to our word that we hold them accountable for what they have caused in our city,” Muñeton said.
In an email response to Voice of OC questions, company officials said they understand the difficult situation that residents and businesses went through during the chemical tank evacuations and thanked emergency personnel.
“On behalf of the team at GKN Aerospace, I want to say how sorry we are for the uncertainty and disruption this situation has caused,” said GKN Senior Vice President Steve Carlin, who oversees the Garden Grove site’s programs, in a Wednesday statement.
“I recognize how challenging this has been, particularly over the Memorial Day holiday. We are committed to understanding what occurred and identifying ways we can support those affected,” he said in the statement.
Carlin said more than 500 employees work at the plant, which has been in Garden Grove since 1966, making canopies for commercial and military aircraft, along with spacecraft.
“We recognize there is more work ahead. Our focus remains on supporting the community, working closely with authorities, and continuing to ensure a safe and responsible path forward. I am personally committed to working with the Garden Grove, Stanton, and broader Orange County communities on these efforts,” he said, adding that company officials have been working with firefighters since the emergency began May 21.
On Tuesday, Garden Grove Councilwoman Muñeton also successfully pushed her council colleagues to have a later discussion on how the city will handle proposals for industrial sites like GKN Aerospace.
“We should have a serious conversation about whether we should allow these types of facilities so close to residents and schools,” she said, arguing for a moratorium on allowing such facilities within half a mile of schools and homes.
Her colleague, Councilwoman Cindy Tran, expressed similar concerns, adding that the council should “take action – that way we won’t have this same situation in the future.”
Councilwoman Ariana Arestegui also called for accountability.
“Now we have the time for accountability,” she said. “It’s time to reevaluate the policies that brought us here to this crisis.”
Councilman Joe DoVinh acknowledged the community frustration but said some of it might be misplaced.
“Constructive criticism is well taken. The outrage is justified. But the profane outbursts are not justified. Thank you for the people who came and spoke in a civil manner and respected each other. We’re all victims here, we don’t need to victimize each other,” DoVinh said.
DoVinh called on staff to review facilities like GKN Aerospace to see “if there are other bad actors, safety violators in our city,” adding he wants to have that discussion after the emergency situation has calmed down.
Breitigam asked city officials to begin looking into a reimbursement process for impacted residents.
“There’s a lot of people that had to spend money, and they’re living paycheck to paycheck,” he said, adding that the program needs to be accessible for residents.
“Let’s get that process quick. I don’t know who’s paying for it and I don’t care,” Breitigam said, adding it could be a mix of state and federal funds – or through GKN Aerospace.
City Manager Lisa Kim said reimbursements and resources are one of her top priorities.
“I take your challenge to work with whoever I can find who will listen to me to secure resources for our residents,” Kim said. “I will knock on every door to at least begin the conversation to bring some resources.”
Stanton Grapples With Financial Fallout After Evacuation Orders
Residents from Stanton — home to about 40,000 people in three square miles — made up the majority of the evacuations after about 50,000 people were ordered to leave their homes over Memorial Day weekend.
Officials also discussed how to get families and local business owners the money they need to get back on their feet after the evacuation orders that lasted five days.
At Tuesday night’s meeting, one Stanton resident, who said she’s a single mother of two children, asked who is responsible to reimburse her and her neighbors.
“Does that [financial reimbursement] go through Stanton, does that go through Garden Grove, or is that going to be anybody’s responsibility?” she asked council members at the meeting.
Mayor Shawver said payments should be the responsibility of GKN Aerospace, who owns the malfunctioning tank.
Shawver also emphasized that local businesses took an especially large hit during the emergency in their neighboring town.
He explained that the city staff is working on getting financial aid to small business owners and residents who aren’t able to afford basic needs like food and rent.
“Our main point is to take care of residents who can’t afford food, they can’t afford to miss work and they can’t afford rent,” Shawver said.
Stanton has one of the lowest income rates in Orange County, according to U.S. Census data.
From 2020-2024, the city’s median household income was $84,707. That’s just under Santa Ana’s median household income of $93,999 for the same period.
Stanton also has one of the highest population densities in the U.S., according to a city staff report included with Tuesday night’s agenda.
Councilmember Donald Torres, who said he also evacuated from his home, emphasized that many residents live “paycheck to paycheck” and it might take months for them to financially recover from this event.
“I understand that you will be playing catch up for the next few months,” he said at the meeting. “I want you to rest assured that the city will do everything in its power to make sure that you guys have extra revenue in your pockets.”
“I know any revenue in your pockets will be spent on clothes and food and necessities,” he said.
Shawver said the neediest residents will be prioritized, but the city’s goal is to help all.
“It’s our goal to help everyone — to help every business — whether it’s McDonald’s, Raising Cane’s, In-N-Out or if they just have a mom and pop shop for burgers on the corner,” Shawver said.
“Hopefully we can come up with enough revenue to get everybody back on their feet and keep moving in a positive direction.”
Like some officials in Garden Grove said on Tuesday, Stanton Mayor Shawver also said he wants staff to conduct a review of every business in the city with a hazmat license to ensure they’re all in compliance.
Councilmember Victor Barrios said it’s time to focus on residents and businesses at Tuesday night’s meeting — just minutes after evacuation orders were lifted.
“As a staff, as a team, team Stanton, we as residents are going to work together to make sure that no one is left behind. That we all come back and recoup what we lost,” Barrios said.
“Listen to your neighbors — their mental well-being. This is hard for a lot,” he continued. “Imagine being a single mom or dad with multiple kids and using that last dollar to find a place to stay.”
Spencer Custodio is the civic editor. You can reach him at scustodio@voiceofoc.org. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerCustodio.
Angelina Hicks is the Voice of OC Collegiate News Service Editor. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.