OC judge signs off on $125 million GKN Aerospace hazmat settlement

An Orange County Superior Court judge on Monday approved a $125 million settlement with the operators of a Garden Grove plastics manufacturing plant where a chemical leak forced thousands of people from their homes and businesses in May.

According to the District Attorney’s Office, the settlement will set aside up to $100 million for approximately 50,000 residents who were forced to evacuate because of the hazardous materials emergency at the GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems Inc. plant. First responders who handled the Memorial Day weekend emergency will be reimbursed $8,471,385.50 under the agreement.

Garden Grove Oct 12

$125M agreement reached in civil case over Garden Grove chemical tank emergency

Garden Grove Jun 28

Hazardous materials cleanup starts Monday at GKN Aerospace in Garden Grove

The company also agreed to seven years of monitoring, including oversight by an independent expert to ensure the plant complies with applicable laws and regulations. GKN will pay $1.4 million for that monitoring.

The District Attorney’s Office will receive $15 million in penalties under state law to be used for consumer protection enforcement.

Under the settlement’s claims programs, qualifying residents who were impacted by the disaster may be able to receive:

• Up to $300 per night for lodging up to five nights, with higher amounts of up to $500 per night or additional nights covered in certain circumstances.
• $50 per person per day for meals for up to five days.
• $20 per household per day for transportation for up to five days, or up to $50 per day with documentation of expenses.
• A $500 payment per household for loss of use of their residence, in addition to other qualifying compensation. This payment is intended to cover disruptions and needs such as toiletries, clothing, pet care, animal boarding and childcare, and requires no additional documentation beyond a completed claim application.
• Up to $500 per day in documented lost wages for hourly employees who missed work due to the evacuation, for a maximum of three working days.
• Up to $5,000 per day in documented lost profits for businesses required to close due to the evacuation.

Those who wish to file a claim may be asked to provide supporting documentation. GKN Aerospace will announce when the claims program will open and how residents can apply.

District Attorney Todd Spitzer said his office worked with outside chemical safety experts to analyze what happened and that GKN fully cooperated with the investigation.

In July, the county sent a letter to the company demanding $4,071,305 in reimbursement for resources used to respond to the leak involving the cooling system of a 34,000-gallon chemical storage tank.

The hazardous materials emergency began May 21 when a leak was detected at the facility at 12122 Western Ave. Tens of thousands of residents in Garden Grove, the entire city of Stanton and other nearby communities were forced to evacuate for several days during Memorial Day weekend as crews worked to neutralize a toxic chemical stored in tanks that had overheated, raising fears of an explosion.

Ultimately, a crack in the damaged tank relieved the pressure inside it, eliminating the risk of an explosion.