Potential crack found on Garden Grove chemical tank, reducing explosion risk

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With evacuation shelters reaching capacity as more than 40,000 people were asked to leave their homes, officials laboring to prevent an explosion at a crippled chemical tank in Garden Grove reported tentative progress Sunday in ending the crisis.TJ McGovern, interim fire chief for the Orange County Fire Authority, said firefighters had discovered what appeared to be a potential crack on the tank’s surface that could be alleviating some of the pressure resulting from the chemical reaction inside.If they are right, it would make a catastrophic explosion or an uncontrollable leak less likely.“With this new information, it could change our trajectory and our strategy to this event,” McGovern said.

“This was a step in a right direction, and there’s going to be a lot more coming shortly.”Lee Zeldin, U.S.Environmental Protection Agency administrator, said the new development was promising.

“I’m being told this morning that the most likely scenario is one of a low volume release, where the local authorities are going to be able to monitor, neutralize and contain the threat,” he said during a Sunday morning appearance on CNN‘s “State of the Union.”McGovern gave no indication as to when the 40,000 people who had been forced from their homes — many into shelters — due to evacuation orders would be allowed to return.“We know you’re out of your homes.We want to get you back,” he said.

“But we cannot do that until it’s deemed safe.”The positive note was a welcome development in a situation that has left much of Orange County on edge since Thursday.The crisis began when the Orange County Fire Authority responded to reports of a hazardous materials incident at GKN Aerospace on Western Avenue in Garden Grove.

Officials found a tank containing 7,000 gallons of a toxic chemical called methyl methacrylate, or MMA, stored in liquid form that was in danger ...