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Orange County health officials are walking back a claim that no vapor or fumes were released during a chemical tank crisis at a Garden Grove aerospace company two weeks ago, but state officials maintain that any leak did not pose a major health risk to the public.The Los Angeles Times asked the Orange County Healthcare Agency about the statement of Health Officer Dr.
Regina Chinsio-Kwong, who during a media briefing on Memorial Day said that “there was no contamination, there were no fumes, there were no vapors that came from this incident, there was no leak.” Chinsio-Kwong’s statement seemed to contradict repeated statements by officials with the Orange County Fire Authority, whose leaders said they responded on May 21 to a crippled pressurized tank at a Garden Grove aerospace firm that was “off-gassing with some fumes,” and that there was “a vapor release from a tank containing an industrial chemical used in plastic and manufacturing,” and that rising temperature forced the activation of a relief valve.Additionally, a reference to the vapor release came in a hazardous materials spill report issued on May 21 by the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.Citing information from GKN Aerospace, the report said “material contained in an outside above ground storage tank in a tank farm began to experience exothermic reaction causing the material to heat up and release fumes from the storage tank.” “The top of the storage tank began to bulge, and fumes released for approximately 5 minutes until employees activated the manual fire suppression system.” The report said about 300 employees were evacuated from the facility.The tank contained 7,000 gallons of the highly reactive liquid chemical known as methyl methacrylate, or MMA, which can be used to make materials such as Plexiglass.
Inhaling MMA can irritate the lungs and, at high levels of exposure,...