Tens of thousands of Southern Californians are finally back home after days of watching a chemical tank’s temperature—and their nerves—slowly come down. Orange County officials on Tuesday night ended the last of the evacuation orders around a GKN Aerospace plant in Garden Grove, saying a damaged tank holding methyl methacrylate had remained stable for four hours without cooling measures, per the New York Times. At the peak of the Memorial Day weekend scare, nearly 50,000 residents were ordered out over fears of an explosion or toxic spill; about 16,000 closest to the site were waiting on the all-clear until Tuesday, per the AP.
“We did it,” incident commander Craig Covey of the Orange County Fire Authority told a packed community meeting, drawing a mix of boos and cheers from evacuees who’d been sleeping in cars, tents, and hotels. The British-based aerospace supplier stressed there were “no leaks or contamination” and apologized for the disruption, but locals are demanding more than that: activists are calling for the plant’s relocation, at least one lawsuit has been filed, and officials have promised investigations into both the incident and alleged hotel price-gouging. Rep. Derek Tran has urged GKN executives to face residents directly, warning that a community “cannot thrive while living in fear” of its neighbor.
