GARDEN GROVE MAYOR Stephanie Klopfenstein at Thursday’s city council meeting issues a demand to GKN (Tribune photo/You Tube).

By Jim Tortolano
Orange County Tribune

A special meeting of the Garden Grove city Council on Thursday concluded with a request – actually a demand – that a representative of GKN Aerospace appear at the next council meeting to speak about the chemical incident that lead to the evacuation of 50,000 people in Garden Grove and adjacent cities.

“Now that the immediate emergency has passed, we believe that GKN has a responsibility to step forward and address the community directly,” said  Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein, reading a letter to be sent to the company. “This incident caused significant hardship to many in our community and placed first responders in a dangerous and volatile situation.

“Garden Grove and surrounding communities deserve – and I would like to add, demand – answers. We are requesting that GKN Aerospace communicate directly with the impacted community to provide a full accounting of what occurred.

“The community needs to understand how this incident happened and what steps GKN is taking to make sure that an incident like this does not happen again.”

“GKN’s $3 million dollar contribution to the OC Community Resilience Fund is a start, but it is not nearly enough to address the full impact experienced by the community.

“We want to be clear on the following point: the City of Garden Grove expects accountability.
The community should not be left to absorb the consequences of this incident without answers, support and a clear commitment from GKN to prevent future harm.

“We urge GKN to meet this moment by engaging directly with the public, answering difficult questions and outlining a meaningful plan to support those who were impacted.”

The meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 9.

At Thursday’s special meeting the council heard updates from the Orange County Fire Authority – which took the lead on the incident on Western Avenue involving problems with a chemical vat that ran the risk of an explosion or major leakage.

Also speaking were a representative of the Orange County Health Care Agency and Garden Grove Police Chief Amir El-Farra.

The council chamber was nearly full, but it was better-behaved than the larger crowd on March 26, which became so boisterous that police had to step in and clear the Community Meeting Center.

At Thursday’s meeting Mayor Klopfenstein warned the audience to be respectful or risk ejection. Nearly all speakers expressed disappointment or anger over the company’s response, including its donation of $3 million to mitigate the effects of the incident.

But one seeker shouted, “We don’t want a bailout, we want GKN out!”

Also:
• cleanup activities continue at GKN, but temporary, intermittent odors may occur, but do not pose a health danger according to the HCA;
• the city is seeking Small Business Administration economic injury assistance for businesses impacted by the chemical incident.