{"id":9373,"date":"2026-05-26T22:01:42","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T22:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=9373"},"modified":"2026-05-26T22:01:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T22:01:42","slug":"70-people-suing-garden-grove-chemical-tank-owner-over-crisis-as-of-tuesday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=9373","title":{"rendered":"70 people suing Garden Grove chemical tank owner over crisis as of Tuesday"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A series of lawsuits against GKN Aerospace, the owner of a malfunctioning chemical tank in Garden Grove, have begun showing up in Orange County Superior Court, following a long holiday weekend where the potential threat of a massive explosion or chemical leak forced tens of thousands of people out of their homes.<\/p>\n

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The first \u2014 but almost certainly far from the last \u2014 round of legal broadsides against GKN came as fire crews have continued to fight to stabilize a compromised tank containing methyl methacrylate, also known as MMA, a flammable, toxic and highly volatile chemical.<\/p>\n

As the rescue efforts dominated headlines over the weekend, at least a half dozen law firms publicly promised to file lawsuits on behalf of residents and businesses impacted by the evacuations.<\/p>\n

At least seven lawsuits were filed against GKN in state court by Tuesday afternoon, after normal courthouse operations resumed following the Memorial Day break. One federal lawsuit had already been filed over the weekend.<\/p>\n

Collectively, the early lawsuits include around 70 plaintiffs.<\/p>\n

But with roughly 50,000 people left displaced at the height of the evacuations \u2014 and 16,000 still unable to return home as of Tuesday afternoon \u2014 the pool of potential plaintiffs sought by enterprising attorneys is far from exhausted.<\/p>\n

Representatives for GKN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

The lawsuits generally allege negligence on the part of GKN \u2014 a United Kingdom-based company and a leading manufacturer of aerospace parts \u2014 and describes it as being a public nuisance following the apparent failure of any emergency systems involving the compromised chemical tank.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

As one of the lawsuits puts it, residents were \u201csubjected to evacuation orders, shelter-in-place directives, exposure concerns, noxious chemical odors, fear of contamination, interference with the use enjoyment of their homes and properties and other damages.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another lawsuit noted that residents who chose to ignore the evacuation orders \u201cwould face substantial risk due to the release of the extremely flammable and highly toxic chemical MMA\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cThe release of this chemical was entirely avoidable,\u201d Attorneys\u00a0 wrote in one of the lawsuits. \u201cDefendants are in the business of manufacturing canopies, windows and other transparencies for military aircraft. Defendants therefore regularly purchased and stored MMA \u2014 a required chemical for the manufacture of acrylics, Plexiglass, Luddite, and other polymers that make up Defendants\u2019 products. Defendants knew of the inherent dangers and risks associated with storing MMA, including the risks of explosion and the risks to human health. Defendants nevertheless failed to follow best practices for storing this hazardous chemical.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Most of the lawsuits seek class action status. If granted by a judge, that would allow the attorneys to prosecute the lawsuit on behalf of a large pool of potentially thousands of plaintiffs. Based on lawsuits filed following previous disasters, current and future lawsuits filed against GKN in connection to the compromised tank are likely to be consolidated at some point into a single case.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Efforts to stabilize the chemicals and end the danger to the community have been the main focus of local, state and federal leaders in recent days. But calls for an intense investigation into what led to the failures at the GKN plant have already begun.<\/p>\n

What exactly first led the chemical to overheat and why no built-in safety guards at the facility were able to control the reaction remains unclear. Fire officials have said that when they first arrived at the scene on Thursday, a project manager told them there was nothing they could do, that a tank filled with 7,000 gallons of MMA was going to fail, either spilling the chemicals into a parking lot or exploding in a fireball that would release a chemical plume.<\/p>\n

Officials have brought together a group of experts to come up with other options. And a crack at the top of the tank has allowed the chemical to cool and taken the potential of a massive explosion off the table.<\/p>\n

But the question of who will foot the bill for a days-long fire and police response, alternate lodging for impacted residents and the work of hundreds of employees from a wide range of state and federal agencies who are aiding with the emergency \u2014 along with countless other related costs \u2014 remains unanswered.<\/p>\n

\u201cHad Defendants ensured the adequate maintenance and inspection of the storage tanks or implemented adequate emergency protocols in the event the worse occurred, neither the evacuation nor the harm to the surrounding community would have occurred,\u201d one of the lawsuits read.<\/p>\n

Along with the lawsuits, GKN is also facing a probe by the Orange County District Attorney\u2019s Office. DA Todd Spitzer indicated he worked with Orange County Sheriff\u2019s Department deputies to collect drone footage and close-ups of the facility tanks and cooling systems. The DA\u2019s office has also created a hotline for employees \u2014 or community members \u2014 to pass along information about the company\u2019s operations. Prosecutors have also warned the company not to destroy any documents or business records, cautioning that doing so would be a felony.<\/p>\n

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GKN Aerospace is accused of acting negligently and being responsible for tens of thousands of evacuations. So far, 8 lawsuits representing 70 people have been filed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n70 people suing Garden Grove chemical tank owner over crisis as of Tuesday - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=9373\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"70 people suing Garden Grove chemical tank owner over crisis as of Tuesday - Silicon Valley Moving Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"GKN Aerospace is accused of acting negligently and being responsible for tens of thousands of evacuations. 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