California: 40,000 people ordered to evacuate over chemical leak fears

Authorities in Orange county say tank holding methyl methacrylate ‘actively in crisis’ and urge residents to leave Authorities in Orange county, California have ordered the evacuation of 40,000 people over concerns about a chemical leak that threatened to spill or explode. The problem arose on Thursday at a facility owned by GKN Aerospace in the town of Garden Grove, where a storage tank holding methyl methacrylate began off-gassing and threatened to fail. The chemical, which is highly flammable, is used to fabricate resins and plastics. Continue reading...

Roque Planas · Fri, May 22, 2026, 6:12 PM
California | The Guardian

California: 40,000 people ordered to evacuate over chemical leak fears

Authorities in Orange county say tank holding methyl methacrylate ‘actively in crisis’ and urge residents to leave

Authorities in Orange county, California have ordered the evacuation of 40,000 people over concerns about a chemical leak that threatened to spill or explode.

The problem arose on Thursday at a facility owned by GKN Aerospace in the town of Garden Grove, where a storage tank holding methyl methacrylate began off-gassing and threatened to fail. The chemical, which is highly flammable, is used to fabricate resins and plastics.

This page shows an excerpt; reporting belongs to the original publisher. Some images or embeds may be omitted compared with the live article.