https://www.theepochtimes.com/...ZfGqiF5wRDQ%2BC1A%3D

The head of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said Sunday that a chemical storage tank in Southern California that has forced officials to declare an emergency and prompted evacuation orders for tens of thousands residents is likely to fail.

Initially, officials said that 40,000 people were ordered to evacuate on Friday, namely in the Orange County city of Garden Grove. That number had risen to 50,000 by Sunday.
Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the EPA, told CNN’s “State of the Union” program on Sunday that the “most likely scenario” is a “low-volume release” of the tank, where officials will be able to “monitor, neutralize, and contain the threat.”

“The Orange County Fire Authority is working to keep the temperature of the tank down. That is very important,” he said on CNN, referring to the fire department in the Southern California county. He said keeping the temperature under 85 degrees F is key.

But he warned: “We’re being told that the tank will fail, but there are different scenarios as to what that means, the most catastrophic scenario being an explosion that results in other tanks to explode. That’s the reason why you see such a big evacuation that’s been done in the surrounding areas.”

“You have all levels of government, local, state, federal, working together. EPA has personnel on the ground, air monitors deployed in the local community,” Zeldin also said. “We have been involved in the modeling of different scenarios.”

Drones were monitoring temperatures at 10-minute intervals to watch for any spikes and planning was underway to ensure a possible leak could quickly be prevented from spreading into waterways or the ocean, Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief Craig Covey said in a video released online.

“Sitting back and allowing these tanks to fail is unacceptable,” Covey said, adding there was no guarantee tanks will not breach and leak. “Our goal is to protect your homes—no damage to them—and protect the environment.”

As of Sunday morning, Zeldin said: “This is an emergency response. This isn’t yet an environmental response, and the scale of that environmental response will be determined based off of what happens when that tank fails.”

The damaged tank is located at GKN Aerospace, which makes parts for commercial and military aircraft. It holds 6,000 to 7,000 gallons of methyl methacrylate, known as MMA, used to make plastic parts. Since Friday, officials have said the tank could rupture, spilling the chemical, or explode and damage other tanks in the area.

Exposure to methyl methacrylate can cause serious respiratory problems, including lung irritation, health officials said. Higher-level exposure can cause fluid to increase in the lungs, with severe shortness of breath, dizziness, irritability, and problems with concentration and memory.

In some cases, exposure can cause damage to the nervous system including numbness, a pins and needles feeling, and weakness in the feet or hands, officials say.

MMA is also highly flammable, and has been deemed a fire and explosion hazard, authorities also say. Health officials also said the chemical has a distinct odor, with a sharp and fruity smell.

In a statement posted on its website, GKN Aerospace officials said on Saturday that they “sincerely apologize” to residents over the issue and are “working tirelessly” to try and resolve the problem.

Garden Grove, which is home to 172,000 residents, is located approximately 30 miles south of Los Angeles. The evacuation zone affected neighborhoods in and around the city, and extends to nearby areas, including parts of Anaheim, Cypress, Stanton, Buena Park, and Westminster.

Seems like an early order of business is to safely drain the damaged tank, store it somewhere suitable.

I’m sure those in the know are weeks ahead of me.

I'm pretty sure that's NOT possible at this point! Apparently air entered the tank, causing/initiating an exothermic reaction (think Super Glue) and there is NO way to reverse it. Cracks in the tank/system have apparently dissipated pressure and eliminated the risk of a catastrophic explosion. There would seem to be little that can be done other than to ride it out and dissipate the heat until it is stable.

My GoogleFu found Methyl Methacrylate's EPA health summary . Among the highlights which are a little worse than the OP's article:

Acute inhalation - in rats it had degenerative changes in nasal passages and lungs, and high doses may cause pulmonary edema.

Chronic inhalation - at high levels resulted in degenerative and necrotic changes in the liver, kidney, brain, spleen, and bone marrow

Chronic reference inhalation concentration - 0.7 milligrams per cubic
meter. That is 1/1000 of a teaspoon in an air volume the size of your recliner.

Chemical Hazards:

can undergo an uncontrolled chemical chain reaction (polymerization) if exposed to heat, light, or contaminants. This reaction generates immense heat and pressure, which can cause sealed tanks or containers to explode

heavier than air so can travel along ground to find ignition source

I used to be my employer's operations section head (aka the guy in unified chain of command who figured out the actual tactic for addressing the emergency) for emergency response in Alaska. I managed to find my old "yellow book" from 2012 and look up Methyl Methacrylate. It falls under Guide 129P and has a fire isolation of 0.5 miles in all directions, and consider evacuation of same distance. For fires involving tanks or rail cars it recommends unmanned fire fighting.

Hope Dave is in a safe zone and not affected.

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
I'm pretty sure that's NOT possible at this point! Apparently air entered the tank, causing/initiating an exothermic reaction (think Super Glue) and there is NO way to reverse it. Cracks in the tank/system have apparently dissipated pressure and eliminated the risk of a catastrophic explosion. There would seem to be little that can be done other than to ride it out and dissipate the heat until it is stable.

I've been trying to enjoy this weekend but, this news keeps popping up...do you have a link on the why's and how's of this?

^^ I read a post about it on 'X' that also had video this AM, but it was in my 'For You' feed so basically unfindable. I was gonna embed it when I saw this thread posted later and did search for it, but I couldn't find it. I basically posted from memory, though the info about 'eliminated risk of catastrophic explosion' is easily found.

Maybe if they passed another law restricting cooking outside on a grill statewide, this thing will simply go away.

Umm...

I use the stuff about 3-4 times a week, and many members here have the stuff in our knees and hips. Its the liquid that turns a simple dust material into bone cement. I turned out ok, I'm told.

For evacuations like this, who pays for things like temporary housing / hotel?

Personal expense? Company? Gov?

What about lost income for small businesses?

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
For evacuations like this, who pays for things like temporary housing / hotel?

Personal expense? Company? Gov?

What about lost income for small businesses?

I suspect the comnapy is on the hook for expenses. Courts will likely decide.

We have a branch of GKN Aerospace in the next town over. It is a huge plant where the make components for the Honda jet.


RMD

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
For evacuations like this, who pays for things like temporary housing / hotel?

Personal expense? Company? Gov?

What about lost income for small businesses?

Usually the owning company tries to appease the public to prevent lawsuits by paying for stuff. Something on this scale will make that impossible and this could easily bankrupt a company.

OSHA requires PHA’s (Process Hazard Analysis) to prevent things like this. Some companies don’t take them seriously and sometimes things just get overlooked. Chemical storage and processes should be designed to avoid things like this. But, things always go wrong and it is not possible to prevent everything that could happen. I will be curious to see the CSB’s (Chemical Safety Board) report on the cause of this.

BTW, I have responded to incidents when you are not sure if vessels are going to rupture, burst into flames or explode, it is no fun. Most chemical companies and refineries in the Houston area do well to prepare for things like this. Companies collaborate on response plans with things like CIMA (https://www.cimatexas.org/).

They are now saying that it will not explode, just leak out. If it does splode I might feel it. I'm just outside the evacuation zone by about 2 miles.

quote:

Originally posted by TexasScrub:
I use the stuff about 3-4 times a week, and many members here have the stuff in our knees and hips. Its the liquid that turns a simple dust material into bone cement. I turned out ok, I'm told.

Awful smelling stuff. The only good thing about getting a big whiff of it is that you know the procedure is almost done.