When more than 50,000 Orange County residents were forced to evacuate because of a chemical tank emergency at GKN Aerospace in Garden Grove, many people asked the same question: What industrial facilities operate near my home, my child’s school, or my workplace that I don’t know about?
The reality is that nearly half of K-12 schools in Southern California are located within one mile of a major industrial pollution facility. More than 800 of those schools are located in environmental justice communities that already face disproportionate pollution burdens.
As a parent in Irvine, I found that the elementary school my children attended is located within just a few miles of several mapped industrial sites, including Kaiser Permanente Irvine Hospital, Hoag Hospital Irvine, and Maruchan’s south Irvine noodle factory. My neighborhood is not one that most people would think of as an environmental justice community. Yet the Garden Grove emergency reminded me that industrial facilities and their pollution are not confined to distant refineries or heavy industrial zones. They exist much closer to our homes, schools, and families than many of us realize.
Across Orange County, thousands of industrial facilities operate near communities every day, including hundreds of industrial fossil fuel boilers at factories, hospitals, universities, and commercial buildings. Each day, these boilers quietly release nitrogen oxides (NOx), a pollutant linked to asthma attacks and a major ingredient in smog.
Unlike the Garden Grove emergency, boiler pollution doesn’t make headlines. There are no emergency alerts. No evacuation zones. Yet residents breathe the consequences every day.
The South Coast Basin is home to roughly 18 million people and suffers from some of the worst air quality in the nation. The first five months of 2026 were the smoggiest start to a year the region has experienced in more than a decade, with 39 days exceeding federal ozone pollution standards by early June. Part of the reason is that industrial pollution remains heavily concentrated in the very communities already burdened by dirty air: 92% of California’s industrial boilers are located in regions that fail to meet federal ozone standards.
Many residents would be surprised to learn how common these systems are. Boilers operate at institutions woven into everyday life, from hospitals and universities to the makers of Cup Noodle, hotels, and major attractions like Disneyland. On average, each industrial boiler emits roughly 2.2 tons of NOx annually — equivalent to the yearly emissions of about 136 gas-powered cars.
The impacts of that pollution extend far beyond industrial property lines. The boilers regulated under South Coast AQMD’s Rule 1146 and 1146.1 — large industrial boilers, steam generators, and process heaters used at factories, institutions, and commercial facilities — often operate near homes, schools, and workplaces, meaning the pollution they emit can affect the health of surrounding communities every day.
Innovations in zero-emissions technology, including right here in Southern California, prove we don’t have to sacrifice our health for the sake of continued business operations. Last year, UCI Health opened the nation’s largest all-electric hospital, a 144-bed facility powered by electric heat pumps, electric water heating, and an all-electric kitchen. Just outside of Orange County, California State University (CSU) Dominguez Hills successfully displaced 80% of its fossil fuel combustion with heat pumps to power its campus operations this year. These projects offer a glimpse of what cleaner industrial operations can look like in Southern California at a time when air regulators at the South Coast Air Quality Management District are evaluating how to reduce pollution from fossil fuel boilers.
Regulators have already taken steps to reduce pollution from industrial boilers and are currently considering stronger standards for larger industrial boilers across Southern California that could clean up our air. Rule 1146.2, a zero-emissions standard for small boilers passed by SCAQMD in June 2024, is expected to eliminate 5.6 tons of NOx pollution per day by 2033 — roughly equivalent to cutting nearly half of passenger vehicle NOx emissions in the region.
The lessons from Garden Grove must include reforms in transparency, public health, and the hidden industrial systems that shape the quality of the air we breathe every day.
As regulators consider stronger standards for industrial boilers, Orange County has an opportunity to lead. Cleaner technologies are already here. The question is whether our leaders will act to accelerate their adoption and protect OC families from continued exposure to harmful pollution.
Ayn Craciun is Orange County Policy Director for Climate Action Campaign, a leading Southern California climate policy watchdog, and an elected delegate to the California Democratic Party (AD 73). She has led successful campaigns on clean energy and utility affordability, served twice as Chair of the City of Irvine Sustainability Commission, and was recognized by the Orange County Register as one of Orange County’s most influential people and by the Sierra Club with its 2025 Political Leadership Award. She lives in Irvine.
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