A coalition pushing Garden Grove to shut down the GKN Aerospace facility, where an overheating tank threatened a chemical release over Memorial Day weekend, made its case in a press conference and to the City Council Tuesday night, Aug. 25, but employees of the company said their work is safe.
At least one councilmember said trying to close down the plant is “unrealistic,” but more can be done to ease the community’s safety concerns.
The GKN Out of Garden Grove coalition called on the city to reject the company’s planned expansion, shut down the facility and impose an immediate moratorium, or pause, on new or expanding military manufacturing facilities, with one speaker calling the plant “a ticking time bomb.”
The group is also pressing Garden Grove officials to impose a “buffer zone” between the GKN facility in west Garden Grove and residential areas.
“A lot of cities have gotten really creative with how they are using their powers to ensure public safety,” said Mai Nguyen, a research and policy manager with the Harbor Institute for Immigrant and Economic Justice, which is part of the GKN Out of Garden Grove coalition.
“So in Burbank, for example, there is a buffer zone with gun shops and schools and some other locations,” Nguyen said, referencing a 2024 law requiring firearm and ammunition retailers to be located at least 1,000 feet from residential zones.
“It’s ultimately up to these corporations to be able to operate out of a place that is not hazardous to other people. It should be their responsibility, right?” Nguyen said. “But even that aside, ultimately, I think the best option would be just to get this GKN facility out of any place near homes and schools.”
Garden Grove Councilmember George Brietigam said it would be “unrealistic” for the city to ask GKN Aerospace to leave Garden Grove.
“They were there way before the houses were built up, so they do have some grandfather property rights,” said Brietigam, whose First District includes the facility.
Production using methyl methacrylate, the chemical stored in the malfunctioning tank, is already paused at the plant, Brietigam said in response to calls for a moratorium. But he added he’d like to see less MMA onsite and “their safety plan and what they plan on doing going forward.”
“Our communities should not be continuously put at risk,” said Sophia Awaida, a Garden Grove resident and member of the Palestinian Youth Movement, which is also part of the local coalition. “We saw the conditions of the evacuated residents, and who knows what the conditions would have been if the tank exploded.”
She said that while compensation for those affected is necessary, it does not equal accountability. “It is not prevention,” she said. “It is not justice.”
At least 20 GKN employees waited outside ahead of the council meeting, watching as the coalition held its press conference. Several argued that if the city shut down GKN, it would have to shut down eight other aerospace companies operating nearby. Employees argued closing the plant would harm the efficiency of both domestic and military production chains.
Several also said the media and the public have been misinformed about what actually happened in May.
“It’s like going to a nail salon,” Hieu Tran, 71, a 40-year employee, said of exposure to methyl methacrylate, which is also used in some acrylic nail products. “If it was harmful, it would have harmed me.”
GKN Aerospace announced this week it would launch a $100 million claims program aimed at the estimated 50,000 residents of Garden Grove and surrounding cities who were forced to evacuate while emergency crews worked to eliminate the threat of a chemical spill or tank explosion.
Brietigam called the program “a good first step” toward the company’s promise to make things right with the community. He also pressed Steve Carlin, a GKN representative at Tuesday’s council meeting, over a promised town hall meeting, which still has not been scheduled.
The company said it would host a series of community events in conjunction with the claims process, where impacted residents will be able to ask questions, get more information, and receive help filing claims — though no date has been announced.
Brietigam also urged the company to make its enhanced safety protocols public.
“You got a lot of people that are in fear,” he said. “The public deserves to know what safety protocols were enhanced at the company going forward, so they can ease their minds, because there’s a lot of nervous people out there.”
Carlin fielded questions from the council about long-term safety, responding that “safety remains our top priority,” and adding that after the chemical scare, the company brought in “experts from across the industry to look at the incident and derive lessons learned from it.” He also said normal operations would not proceed without full approval from the necessary local, state, and federal regulatory agencies.
Councilmember Joe DoVinh, who described himself as one of GKN’s “toughest critics,” said the initial $3 million GKN had contributed early on toward community relief was “a drop in the bucket,” but the $100 million figure “seems to be the bucket.”
He urged the company to process claims generously, saying “screen in, don’t screen out.”
DoVinh also asked the company to make its case for staying in Garden Grove, noting that some residents want GKN to “cease operations and move beyond the city limits,” and requested a tour of the facility before it resumes MMA production.