More than 600 community members packed a local hotel ballroom on Tuesday, Oct. 27, for a long-awaited meeting where they asked questions about a $100 million claims program and voiced ongoing safety concerns about the soon-to-reopen GKN Aerospace facility in Garden Grove.
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Over the Memorial Day weekend, a chemical storage tank at the 500-employee aerospace manufacturing plant failed, threatening an explosion and toxic plume or a street-level spill that could leak into drainage systems and local neighborhoods.
The scare prompted a days-long evacuation of some 50,000 residents and area businesses before emergency crews eventually quelled the threat.
At the community meeting the company held Tuesday night at the Delta Hotels in Garden Grove — community members filled the hotel’s ballroom and an overflow of several dozen people remained standing and lined the venue walls — GKN Aerospace representatives delivered a slide show presentation on the claims program launched just hours earlier.
The voluntary program is aimed at the residents and businesses seeking restitution for losses related to the May 21 chemical incident and evacuations.
People and households who lived within the mandatory evacuation zone — orders spanned the cities of Anaheim, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Stanton and Westminster — are eligible under the voluntary claims program for expenses such as lost business and wages, meals, transportation and hotel stays.
Steve Carlin, far right, Senior Vice President of GKN Aerospace, speaks to the crowd at a community meeting held at the Delta Hotels Anaheim Garden Grove to answer questions from members of the public and listen to community concerns on Tuesday, October 27, 2026. (Photo by Karen Tapia / Orange County Register, SCNG)
People wait in line to enter a meeting held at the Delta Hotels Anaheim Garden Grove, where GKN Aerospace representatives gathered to answer questions from the public and listen to community concerns on Tuesday, October 27, 2026. (Photo by Karen Tapia / Orange County Register, SCNG)
In the hours following the launch of the claims portal, GKN Aerospace representatives held a community meeting at the Delta Hotels Anaheim Garden Grove to deliver a slide presentation on the program, answer questions from members of the public, and listen to community concerns on Tuesday, October 27, 2026. (Photo by Karen Tapia / Orange County Register, SCNG)
Elizabeth Alvarez waits her turn to go through a metal detector prior to a town meeting held at the Delta Hotels Anaheim Garden Grove to have her questions answered by GKN Aerospace representatives on Tuesday, October 27, 2026. (Photo by Karen Tapia / Orange County Register, SCNG)
It was standing room only, as crowds of people attended a community meeting held at the Delta Hotels Anaheim Garden Grove on Tuesday, October 27, 2026. (Photo by Karen Tapia / Orange County Register, SCNG)
“As I stated just after the accident and all the way through, we are committed to making things right by you and the community,” GKN Aerospace Senior Vice President Steve Carlin said. “We also understand that some of you have concerns about what we’ll do going forward. So today is a step in making things right.”
GKN Aerospace representatives have said the plant is safe for employees to fully return to work, but community concerns haven’t fizzled out.
Lingering safety questions, the feeling that appearances by GKN executives have been sparse and a near five-month wait for a community town hall — a GKN representative first publicly promised the event in early June — have only provided grist for public upset.
Community members and local coalitions have attended nearly every Garden Grove City Council meeting since the incident in May to call for enhanced safety at the site, a reduction in the use and storage of methyl methacrylate, or MMA, the chemical that was in the failing tank, and even for the company to halt its operations entirely.
Kevin Nguyen, 55, owns Xiem Tools, a ceramics and pottery tools company that employs eight people at its headquarters in Garden Grove’s industrial hub.
For more than 15 years, Nguyen and his employees have worked just yards from GKN Aerospace. His company was closed for four days and “we were the last group let back in,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen said he lives in Garden Grove, just east of the evacuation zone, but his parents and several friends were evacuated.
The experience was unsettling, he said, mentioning he’d suffered injuries from a house fire in his youth and that several friends were evacuated as the Eaton Fire burned in Altadena.
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But Nguyen said he felt safe returning to work.
“We took the information they’ve given us and we feel we are safe to get back to work,” he said of GKN and its facility.
Nguyen said he was at the meeting to evaluate whether to recoup his costs through litigation or the claims program and left the meeting saying he was unsure of next steps because of questions over employee reimbursement.
Company representatives, during the Tuesday community meeting, presented updates about the facility and its new safety plan required by the Orange County Superior Court before GKN Aerospace can restart full operations, including its methyl methacrylate use.
“We take our responsibility seriously and we will only return to operations when those requirements have been met,” GKN Aerospace Vice President Sherri Murrish said. “We know that rebuilding your trust will take time.”
GKN has taken several steps to improve safety around the site, representatives said, such as “upgrades to technology,” including to the MMA storage systems and new equipment to monitor and regulate the temperature of the storage tanks.
In May, the facility’s MMA storage tank had failed and overheated — emergency crews aimed a constant flow of water, approximately 9 million gallons over five days, at the tank to keep its temperature from rising further while a solution was sought.
The facility will also undergo annual audits for “the next seven years” by an independent auditor to check compliance with safety standards, GKN executives said during Tuesday’s meeting.
Crowds trickled out after the slide show presentation, but dozens of community members queued up to ask logistical questions about the claims program.
Several people asked about documents required to submit claims.
Representatives said receipts do not need to be provided for meals, but receipts or bills are required for hotel stays.
Among the compensation amounts being offered, qualified claimants may receive up to $300 per night per household to cover hotel stays, various sums for meals and transportation, a $500 payment per household for loss of use of their residence, and up to $500 per day in documented lost wages for hourly employees who missed work due to the evacuation. GKN is offering up to $5,000 per day in documented lost profits for businesses required to close due to the evacuation.
Evacuated businesses, households and individuals are asked to visit GKNGGClaimsProgram.com to check for details, for their eligibility for the claims program and submit a claim.
An in-person location to assist with claims will be available Nov. 9, representatives said.
Funds should be received within “30 days once you’ve signed the settlement offer,” representatives said.
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