Garden Grove City Council members are demanding accountability from the company that’s responsible for the emergency that forced 50,000 residents to evacuate their homes or remain near a tank full of toxic chemicals that nearly exploded.
During a special meeting on June 4, city leaders voted to send a letter to GKN Aerospace representatives demanding answers from the company and asking a representative to come to a future city council meeting to face the public.
The council is slated to meet tomorrow at a special meeting at 5 p.m. — the city’s spokesperson confirmed that Steve Carlin, senior vice president of GKN Aerospace, will attend the meeting to address the community.
During the special meeting, leaders are expected to receive another hazardous materials incident update and further discuss communication to GKN demanding accountability. The special meeting will be held at the Garden Grove Community Meeting Center at 11300 Stanford Avenue.
The council’s regularly scheduled meeting will follow, scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.
It comes after representatives from GKN did not attend a community event despite receiving an invitation from Congressman Derek Tran, who represents much of North Orange County where evacuation orders were sent out.
“We are requesting that GKN Aerospace communicate directly with the impacted community to provide a full accounting of what occurred,” reads an initial draft of the letter from the Garden Grove City Council that was included with last week’s city council agenda.
“We want to be clear on the following point: the City of Garden Grove expects accountability,” the initial letter draft continues.
GKN leaders did not respond to request for comment on Friday regarding Garden Grove’s letter.
In an emailed response to Voice of OC questions on May 27, GKN leaders apologized for the disruption caused to residents and business owners and thanked emergency responders.
“We are committed to understanding what occurred and identifying ways we can support those affected,” said Steve Carlin, Senior Vice President of the company, in the response.
“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.”
During Thursday’s meeting, city council members reviewed the draft letter and requested slight wording changes before voting.
City Manager Lisa Kim said she noted all the council members’ requested changes and promised to rework the letter before sending it out as soon as possible.
“The community should not be left to absorb the consequences of this incident without answers, support and a clear commitment from GKN to prevent future harm,” reads the initial letter draft. “We urge GKN to meet this moment by engaging directly with the public, answering difficult questions and outlining a meaningful plan to support those who were impacted.”
The emergency began on Thursday, May 21, when city leaders noted a chemical spill at GKN Aerospace on Western Avenue in Garden Grove.
By the next morning, leaders ordered thousands of residents to evacuate. By midday Friday, May 22, evacuation zones had increased to include homes, schools and businesses that impacted about 50,000 residents across north Orange County who were ordered to evacuate out of concern that the compromised tank would either leak toxic chemicals or explode.
Evacuations ended on May 26 after first responders discovered a crack in the tank that successfully reduced the pressure and temperature of the chemicals without any leak or explosion.
Mike Yeun from the Orange County Fire Authority and Darwin Cheng from the Orange County Health Care Agency gave updates about the ongoing cleanup process during the council meeting on June 4.
Yeun noted there were no injuries or illnesses that resulted from the emergency.
Cheng said his office is working alongside GKN to remove the chemical waste to a disposal site.
“Since last Friday, when the Orange County Health Care Agency took lead from the Orange County Fire Authority, the first thing I did was issue a cleanup order to the business, requiring them to take all necessary response actions to mitigate and dispose of all hazardous waste related to this incident,” Cheng said at the meeting.
“The company is actively working with my staff along with South Coast AQMD to remove the waste by hiring a hazardous waste contractor to offload the chemicals from their property and transport them to a hazardous waste disposal facility. This is an ongoing process in multiple phases.”
While the cleanup process was supposed to get started on June 4, it’s been delayed due to “unavailable resources.”
Now, residents are reeling from financial repercussions after missing out on work and unexpectedly using funds to pay for things like emergency hotel stays, meals and other necessities for five days.
[Read: Garden Grove and Stanton Demand Accountability for Chemical Tank Emergency]
Last week, leaders from GKN Aerospace announced they gave $3 million to the OC Community Resilience Fund launched by United Way to help business owners and residents impacted by the evacuations.
[Read: $3 Million Fund Created to Help Residents Impacted by OC Chemical Tank Emergency]
But residents and officials in Garden Grove said that $3 million isn’t enough.
“This is not a reimbursement or refund for expenses faced by the community,” Councilmember Ariana Arestegui said at last week’s meeting. “This is a $3 million contribution to a mutual aid fund that is immediate aid for people who really need aid at this moment.”
“This $3 million, while it will help some folks in the immediate nature, is not a refund or reimbursement for everyone in their times of financial stress and the hardships that they experienced,” she continued.
One resident made a similar point during the public comment portion of the meeting, claiming GKN Aerospace is using the donation to dodge responsibility.
“We refuse to allow GKN to buy its way out of accountability,” she said at the meeting.
Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein read the letter aloud during last week’s meeting to emphasize its serious nature.
“I think it’s very important to our residents, our first responders, our businesses, all those that were impacted, that we verbally share these requests so that GKN understands the seriousness, the directness and the attention that we will continue to give to this matter,” she said before reading the letter.
Councilmembers George Brietigam and Joe DoVinh were absent from the meeting.
Most residents who spoke at last week’s meeting called for council members to shut down GKN and immediately prevent them from operating in the city.
One speaker, a senior at Rancho Alamitos High School who evacuated to Freedom Hall, emphasized how the emergency housing offered by local agencies was not good enough.
“I spent two days over at Freedom Hall, and I saw firsthand how many families with children, elders and people with disabilities were forced to turn around and left on their own luck to find somewhere to sleep,” he said.
He explained that his school hosted a community food bank for people in need, and he witnessed community hardships firsthand.
“I spoke with several affected families who told me that they could not evacuate because they had nowhere to go, that shelters were already full and hotels became increasingly expensive because, of course, they took advantage of the situation,” he said. “Families were left with an impossible choice to stay in their homes and die from a possible explosion or be homeless because those who were supposed to represent them did not.”
“Safety should not become a privilege for those who can afford it,” the high school student said.
[Read: OC Public Safety Officials Again Face Complaints Over Poor Disaster Communications]
Councilmember Phillip Nguyen said GKN Aerospace should be held accountable and respond to the city promptly.
“I know there’s a lot of residents on check by check, living payment by payment,” he said at last week’s meeting. “The five-day evacuation has actually hurt them badly. I really want them [GKN] to respond quickly, not just respond. Respond as soon as possible and pay out more and more to our community.”
Angelina Hicks is the Voice of OC Collegiate News Service Editor. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.
