The county will create a $500,000 relief fund for residents and businesses impacted by the Garden Grove chemical tank scare, which displaced more than 50,000 people over the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
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The OC Board of Supervisors agreed to Supervisor Janet Nguyen’s request to draw the funds from the 1rst District discretionary funds. The money will help residents in the neighborhoods that had to be evacuated for several days cover emergency and recovery-related costs, such as temporary lodging, food, transportation, medication and replacement of essential items.
Priority will be given to eligible individuals who did not receive any money from the OC Community Resilience Fund created in the early days by Orange County United Way and 211OC. City officials will work with the nonprofit to ensure benefits are not duplicated.
The crisis at a Garden Grove manufacturing plant operated by GKN Aerospace — where concerns that a malfunctioning tank could explode triggered the mass evacuations — has resulted in at least $3 million in personnel and evacuation costs to the county.
The evacuation orders affected residents across parts of Garden Grove, Stanton, Westminster, Cypress, Anaheim and Buena Park, and several lawsuits have since been filed against the company to recover losses associated with displacement and business interruptions.
The FBI and the Environmental Protection Agency conducted a search of the Garden Grove site June 10 for records related to the “treatment, storage, disposal and transportation” of MMA, the toxic substance inside the failed tank.
The agencies also wanted records related to equipment inspections and maintenance at GKN, according to the search warrant. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer has said his office is also looking into the incident.
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GKN donated $3 million earlier this month to the OC Community Resilience Fund, which provided qualifying residents with up to $500 in cash assistance to recoup evacuation costs.
Nguyen said the fund was depleted within a week, and hundreds of residents who were forced to evacuate still need assistance. The one-time funding from the county is meant to address those needs immediately, she said.
The fund will be distributed by the city of Garden Grove.
“I want to make sure that it’s publicly known that I, too, also want to make sure that GKN fully reimburses and makes everybody whole,” she said. “But right now I want to make sure that this (money) gets out there immediately to help those residents.”
Nguyen said the county will seek reimbursement from the company for the $500,000 so that it can be restored to her district’s discretionary funds.
The United Kingdom-based GKN is a worldwide leading manufacturer of cockpit windshields, jet canopies and aviation windows for civil and military aircraft.
The OC Health Care Agency has been overseeing the cleanup of the property and handling of the malfunctioning tank since the concerns of an explosion or spill were resolved. Its most recent update said steps were being taken to restart some operations in unaffected areas of the plant that don’t involve the use of MMA.
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