GKN under fire as catastrophe averted in California

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BRITISH aerospace firm GKN has been criticised for its management of a chemical tank at a facility in California, following a near-explosion that prompted the evacuation of 50,000 residents. 

The evacuation order, given to residents across Orange County last Friday, was lifted three days later after the local fire service said they had “eliminated” the threat of an explosion at a storage tank containing over 7,000 gallons of methyl methacrylate (MMA). GKN has since been under attack for its management of the site and now faces a lawsuit filed this week by residents. 

Fire services first became aware of an issue at the facility in Garden Grove last Thursday, after which it became clear that cooling systems for the tanker had failed. This triggered self-polymerisation of the MMA, leading to a thermal runaway reaction as more heat was produced by each polymerisation reaction. One fire service chief said the tank had “bulged” and was at risk of a boiling liquid expanding vapour explosion (BLEVE), which would have been “catastrophic”, according to Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) chief Craig Covey, with an elementary school less than half a mile away. 

By Sunday, the tank had exceeded the maximum reading on the temperature gauge. Fire services attempted to stabilise the tank by spraying it with water and by Monday, a crack had appeared in the tank allowing it to depressurise, eliminating the BLEVE threat. Officials have since confirmed there were no injuries reported as a result of the incident, and that no vapours were released. 

Local resident Christina de la Torre, who lives around five miles from the GKN facility but outside of the evacuation zone, criticised “the lack of responses from the city…and just having [no] clear channels of communication”. She told TCE “there was no alert system going out to people in the immediate area”, adding that better regulation and planning would be needed so that “it isn’t a scramble” to respond to future incidents. 

Garden Grove city council did not respond to a request for comment.

Wrong assumptions

MMA is a common feedstock for transparent coatings, which GKN uses to manufacture canopies for F-35 fighter jets and other military and commercial aircraft at Garden Grove. Before the crack appeared on the tank, crews had initially attempted to pump in a neutralising agent to stop the polymerisation reactions, but this failed because the MMA “was starting to solidify and it gummed up the dump valves”, according to OCFA interim chief TJ McGovern.

David Threlfall, chair of IChemE’s safety and loss prevention special interest group, said the effects of MMA polymerisation should have been predicted, telling TCE “it isn’t unique to lose cooling”. He added: “there seems to [have been a] reliance or assumptions made that…cooling will never fail or it will not fail very often”. However, the risk that MMA would solidify was not adequately considered, he said, adding that it can become “like superglue” when it polymerises. “They have not been robust in really questioning themselves if things start to go wrong”. 

In a statement, GKN senior vice president Steve Carlin said: “I want to say how sorry we are for the uncertainty and disruption the situation has caused. I recognise how challenging this has been, particularly over the Memorial Day holiday.

“We are committed to understanding what occurred and identifying ways we can support those affected. We are deeply grateful to OCFA and the entire first responder community for their efforts over the past several days. We recognise there is more work ahead. 

“Our focus remains on supporting the community, working closely with authorities, and continuing to ensure a safe and responsible path forward.”

Threlfall added: “We must always remain alert to what could happen and ensure we are always asking ourselves: ‘what if’?”.