| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 17, 2026 | Contact: Tori Richards |
County issues $4M demand letter to GKN for hazmat disaster
EDITOR’S NOTE: Demand letter attached
SANTA ANA, CA — The County of Orange has issued a formal demand notice to GKN Aerospace demanding payment of $4,071,305 for expenditures related to May 21 hazardous chemical leak in Garden Grove.
The disaster at the plastics manufacturing facility of a potential 7,000-gallon tank explosion resulted in the evacuation of 50,000 people for nearly a week. A massive deployment of fire, law enforcement, healthcare and environmental officials made it one of the largest hazardous material threats in county history, exemplifying the excellence of the region's Unified Command operation.
“The blame for this disaster lies solely with GKN and the County should not be bearing the brunt of these expenses,” said Supervisor Janet Nguyen. “The County works hard to stay in excellent fiscal shape and now we have 10 agencies with huge expenses along with the OC Fire Authority. We need reimbursement.”
Included in the $4 million total is a $500,000 expenditure from the First District to assist evacuees with expenses. The Supervisor has repeatedly stated that GKN needs to make the community whole and more money is needed to do this. The total demand does not include expenses incurred by the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA), which is $2.8 million.
The letter states authority for recovering costs:
“The County is legally entitled to seek full restitution for public funds expended during the May 2026 hazardous materials crisis under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act…and the Hazardous Substance Account Act. The threatened release of MMA, a known hazardous substance stored at GKN’s manufacturing facility in Garden Grove, caused the County to incur these necessary response costs which were taken to halt the immediate risk to public health and welfare, including but not limited to, the temporary evacuation of threatened individuals.”
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Supervisor Janet Nguyen represents the First District of Orange County Board of Supervisors, which is the cities of Cypress, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Westminster and the unincorporated areas of Midway City and Rossmoor. Supervisor Nguyen served in the California State Senate, California State Assembly and as Orange County Supervisor and Garden Grove City Councilmember.
