GARDEN GROVE, Calif.—Orange County is demanding more than $4 million from the owner of a Garden Grove plastic manufacturing plant where a chemical leak forced thousands of people from their homes earlier this year, officials said July 17.
County Counsel Leon Page sent a letter to GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems Inc. demanding payment of $4.07 million for resource deployment and operational expenses incurred from the incident, in which a problem with GKN’s 34,000-gallon chemical storage tank cooling system caused a reaction of neutralized methyl methacrylate, or MMA, a toxic and highly flammable liquid used in the manufacture of acrylic plastics.
The total includes a $500,000 expenditure to assist evacuees with expenses, but does not include expenses incurred by the Orange County Fire Authority, which are $2.8 million, county officials said….