Residents evacuated as toxic chemicals spew from tank at Garden Grove aerospace company

Orange County Fire Authority responded to a hazardous materials incident at a business on Western Avenue after a leaking storage tank released methyl methacrylate, a volatile liquid used to make plastic. The chemical was leaking from a 34,000-gallon vat at an aerospace company that produces acrylic plastics for aerospace applications. Because methyl methacrylate is flammable and can release heat when reactions are triggered, authorities evacuated an area bounded by Garden Grove Boulevard, Monarch Street, Orangewood Avenue, and Beach Boulevard. A reunification point was established at Rancho Alamitos High School. Firefighters sprayed water to cool the tank and the sprinkler system activated. Mitigation was expected to take a couple of hours, followed by investigation into the cause.

"The Orange County Fire Authority responded to reports of a hazardous materials incident at a business in the 12000 block of Western Avenue at 3:30 p.m., according to agency spokesperson Larry Kurtz. Upon arriving at the scene, they determined that methyl methacrylate, a volatile liquid used to make plastic, was leaking out of a 34,000-gallon vat."

""The company actually creates acrylic plastics for the aerospace industry and that's the reason for the chemical," said Kurtz. "The problem with this chemical is it is a possible flammable liquid and it does have exothermic properties." This means that the chemical can release heat when a reaction is triggered."

"To minimize any potential health risk, areas north of Garden Grove Boulevard, east of Monarch Street, south of Orangewood Avenue, and west of Beach Boulevard were evacuated. A reunification point was set up at Rancho Alamitos High School, at 11351 Dale St. Kurtz said the evacuations were a precautionary measure "so if anything bad were to happen, we're dealing with property damage and not life safety.""

"The Fire Department was spraying water at the tank to cool down the chemical, said Kurtz. The leak also triggered the business' automatic sprinkler system. He said it would take a couple of hours to mitigate the chemical leak, after which investigators will focus on determining the cause of the incident."

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