WATER is sprayed on a tank that overheated at an aerospace plant in Garden Grove, Calif., Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Can’t Buy Me Love Dept.: GKN Aerospace spokesman Steve Carlson appeared on Tuesday night at the Garden Grove City Council and was – as is his fate – on the spot.
He and his employers were, depending on the speaker, responsible not just for the hazmat incident in May that led to the evacuation of over 50,000 people, also, for the Hamas-Israeli conflict and capitalism in general, which allegedly places profit over people.
What he had on his side, though, was substantial. He brought – metaphorically – the gift of $100 million in compensation for hotel bills, lost wages, lost income, etc.
Calculators have been clicking and – assuming that everyone has the same claim and all are legitimate – that is said to work out to $2000 a claim, if everyone made a claim. Of course, that $100 million won’t cover the theoretical costs of “emotional distress” and “lowered property values.”
I don’t doubt that most of those are real, but I also see the prospect of some bold grifters who will inflate or invent their losses, seeing an easy pay-day. Lawyers will also begin to circle, dreaming of their 33 percent.
There’s little doubt that, based on previous violations, GKN Aerospace has not exactly been fanatical about safety. And those regulatory bodies who are supposed to be protecting us from such may not have been as “johnny-on-the-spot” as they should have been.
All told, this is not exactly the human race at its finest. All I think I know is that $100 million is just the first bill coming due.
Categories: Opinion
That’s not including the $4M the OC Supervisors are asking for reimbursement for the response. The details haven’t come out yet of who is eligible to file claims or when the Town Hall that GKN Garden Grove Plant VP Steve Carlin promised to the Garden Grove City Council at their June 9th meeting will be held. I hope GKN will hold it before October and will pay all legitimate claims. Some businesses had loss of use worth $20-30 K, spoiled inventory, and some evacuated people lost their jobs because they couldn’t show up for their shift that weekend. GKN really should’ve announced this in late May/ early June instead of recommending people ask their insurance for reimbursement or to take out a loan with the Small Business Administration.
While GKN said the compensation fund will start taking claims “sometime in the Fall”, they will restart effected operations on Monday Sep. 28th. There are lots of questions they have to answer. Will they ever tell the public what caused the chemical haz-mat “incident”, will they continue to store MMA at their Garden Grove plant, and if they do, what additional steps will they take to prevent another crisis?
Carlin invited city councilmembers, hopefully to those of the other affected cities as well, to tour the plant before things restart. Just a few days before the incident started on May 21, the city of Garden Grove issued a permit for GKN to expand their operations that produced MMA. If the councilmembers are not satisfied that GKN can safely handle more MMA, then Garden Grove should issue a moratorium on those operations.
GKN needs to earn the public’s trust. They need to prove they are not a hazard. Transparency needs to be at the forefront for this to happen. At the town hall, I would also like to hear from OCFA about the choice of the evacuation zones. I live 0.3 miles outside of the evacuation zone that was in effect from Friday May 22nd until I believe Memorial Day May 25th. I was lucky to stay with family nearby, I didn’t have to sleep in a shelter, or go to another shelter if the one I went to was full, not stuck at home, didn’t have added expenses like having to pay out-of-pocket for medications to replace ones stuck at home, and the worst was avoided thanks to the bravery and brilliance of the responders. Although I did have at least a couple of weeks of nerve pain while eating and drinking because I was unconsciously grinding my teeth, of which the first few days worrying if a BLEVE would affect my home. Like many said at city council meetings just after, luck is not a strategy.