About 50 gallons of water spilled into a storm drain at GKN Aerospace in Garden Grove, and testing is underway to see if the water contained any toxic chemicals, Orange County health officials said Friday.
Specifically, officials are searching for any trace of methyl methacrylate, or MMA. Approximately 7,000 gallons of that same chemical were in a tank at the facility that went into crisis in late May, creating a risk of explosion that forced the evacuation of 50,000 people in portions of Garden Grove, Stanton, Anaheim, Buena Park, Cypress and Westminster.
The threat subsided on May 26 after officials confirmed that the tank had cracked and was no longer pressurized.
The water spill occurred during a routine effort to empty what the Orange County Health Care Agency called an “onsite stormwater/condensation tank located in an area unrelated to the incident site.”
“As the stormwater was being transferred into a 275-gallon tote for storage and analysis before disposal, as is typical, an overflow occurred and approximately 50 gallons of water flowed into the storm drain,” the agency said in a statement. “Appropriate state and local notifications were made, and a quantity of the spill was collected during the cleanup effort.”
Officials said they believe that “the potential for any trace amounts of MMA to be found in the stormwater is low.”
The Health Care Agency did not immediately answer questions Friday as to whether some of the water in the stormwater tank may have been sprayed on the crippled tank during the incident response over Memorial Day weekend.
Officials’ efforts to use sprinklers to cool the tank as it was heating up were seen as vital to help prevent an explosion, experts and authorities have said.
The Health Care Agency also said that the planned move of neutralized MMA from GKN Aerospace’s storage tanks didn’t happen on Thursday and Friday, and will be rescheduled.
Officials had warned that when the neutralized chemical is transferred into sealed trucks for transport and disposal, people might smell a “fruity or plastic-like odor.”
“The product has a very low odor threshold, meaning people may notice a scent even when concentrations are well below levels associated with health concerns,” health officials said.
The crisis at GKN Aerospace began May 21, when the Orange County Fire Authority responded to the crippled pressurized tank, which was heating up, according to a report issued by state officials. The tank released fumes for about five minutes, and air sensors to detect MMA in the area were set up the next day, officials said. Those sensors have not detected MMA in the air.
Based on the available data, “there is no risk to the public from MMA exposure from this incident,” the California Department of Public Health has said. “No long-term health effects are anticipated in the community as a result of this incident.”
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