Clean-up has begun at the aerospace facility in Garden Grove, where a major chemical leak led to the evacuation of thousands of people.
It's expected to take about a week for crews to remove neutralized MMA (methyl methacrylate) from two storage tanks at GKN Aerospace. The EPA and AQMD are there to make sure the air quality is safe and no chemicals get into the waterways or sewage system.
Health officials warned residents that they may smell a fruity or plastic odor "even when concentrations are well below levels associated with health concerns."
KNX News’ Emily Valdez was in the area on Monday and reported smelling a “rotting fruit” scent and that her eyes started to water after being there for an hour and a half.
She spoke with Bob, who lives in the neighborhood behind the plant. He said that he started to smell the fruity odor when the leak started. He also said that prior to the leak, he started getting a cough.
“I actually started getting a cough about two weeks, three weeks before they notified us that it was leaking, and I don't have any basic health problems, but for some reason I started getting this cough,” he said, adding that the cough hasn’t gone away.
Bob’s neighbor Anne said she also smells the fruit scent every day and that she’s had a bit of a runny nose.
Neighbors told Valdez they had no idea this facility was here, and they don't want it to stick around.
The hazmat emergency began May 21st when an MMA leak was reported. Officials ordered evacuations of parts of Garden Grove, all of Stanton, and other nearby areas over fears of a massive explosion. But a crack in a damaged tank relieved the pressure and negated the risk.
Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen says she'd like to see everyone impacted reimbursed.
“If a resident has spent $500, $200 whatever expense those individuals spent, I believe they should be made whole,” she said. “When I say make a whole is whatever the individuals in the district or in the affected area, and any business who lost money, if you're a restaurant, if you lost $2000 worth of food that got spoiled- I think they should be reimbursed for that.”
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