Chemical tank scare in Garden Grove reveals OC's thin safety net

An overheated chemical storage tank at a Garden Grove aerospace plant forced the evacuation of roughly 50,000 residents last week, exposing a pattern of repeated safety violations and chronically understaffed regulators that left many neighbors unaware of the hazards next door.

The incident at GKN Aerospace's facility on Western Avenue has drawn urgent calls from local lawmakers to overhaul California's toxic-facility oversight and require companies to notify neighbors of hazardous operations — a protection that many Garden Grove residents say they never received despite living within a block of the plant for 20 years.

A pressurized tank at GKN Aerospace, 12122 Western Ave., overheated and bulged, prompting firefighters to intervene before an explosion could occur, according to Voice of OC. The Garden Grove facility manufactures aerospace components including jet engines and landing gear. GKN's parent company, Melrose Industries, reported $869 million in operating profits and $4.8 billion in sales last year.

Records reviewed by Voice of OC show the plant faced repeated fines from Cal/OSHA and the South Coast Air Quality Management District spanning several years. A $2,500 fine was issued in 2019 for failing to maintain equipment; a $910,000 penalty followed in 2021 after the company failed to track toxic chemical emissions for more than five years. GKN was also fined $420 in 2022 for not providing workers respirators during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We dodged a bullet in my opinion. This is the first shot across the bow saying more needs to be done," Congressman Lou Correa said in a Tuesday interview. "We cannot have this situation where these kinds of chemicals, this kind of manufacturing, is done in a very densely populated area without proper safeguards."

Critics point to a systemic staffing crisis as the root cause. Cal/OSHA's Santa Ana office covers all of Orange County with just eight inspectors, while the South Coast Air Quality Management District deploys roughly 100 inspectors to serve 17 million people — 44 percent of California's population — across four counties. A July 2025 state audit found nearly one in three Cal/OSHA positions were unfilled.

Garrett Brown, a former Cal/OSHA compliance officer, told Voice of OC the numbers reflect a collapse in proactive oversight. "Thirty years ago, a worker who filed a complaint, 75% of the time there would be an on site inspection of the facility," Brown said. "These days, even with worker complaints or employer reports of worker injuries, less than half of those are responded to by an on site investigation."

Congressman Derek Tran said at a community forum Tuesday evening that some residents living just a block away had no idea the facility handled highly toxic chemicals. "I want to lead legislation on making sure that when there are companies dealing with toxic chemicals, there's a notification process that occurs within a certain radius," Tran told Voice of OC.

State Assemblyman Avelino Valencia also weighed in Tuesday with a call for systemic change. "We need stricter accountability on safety and facilities that are out of compliance with standards. These incidents should not be happening, let alone in residential areas," Valencia said in a statement.