Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank the first responders who have worked tirelessly to respond to the hazmat crisis at the GKN Aerospace plant in Garden Grove. Over Memorial Day weekend, our firefighters, police officers, and other…
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank the first responders who have worked tirelessly to respond to the hazmat crisis at the GKN Aerospace plant in Garden Grove.
Over Memorial Day weekend, our firefighters, police officers, and other emergency personnel worked around the clock to keep our community safe.
They quickly evacuated over 50,000 residents and businesses who could have been injured by a major explosion.
At the beginning of the crisis, our emergency officials were told that there were only two options: a disastrous explosion or a catastrophic leak. But to our public safety heroes, that was unacceptable, and they accomplished what was initially thought impossible. They neutralized the tank and got our neighbors back in their homes without any dangerous chemicals leaking into our water or air.
I especially thank Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief and Incident Commander Craig Covey, Fire Chief TJ McGovern, Garden Grove Police Chief Amir El-Farra, and Orange County Health Officer Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong.
Their leadership was instrumental in mitigating this crisis, and their communication to my office and my constituents was instrumental in keeping our community safe.
The evacuation was lifted last week, the incident has transitioned out of the emergency response phase, but we still need more.
While our community avoided catastrophic physical damage, 50,000 residents and 5,000 small businesses still face major hardship. Families had to spend their emergency funds on unplanned hotel stays, extra grocery runs, and extra supplies and medication.
Businesses lost multiple days of critical revenue over a holiday weekend. People who worked in the evacuation zone missed out on multiple days of wages because their workplace was forced to shut down.
We need to make them whole. I have called on the Small Business Administration to issue its own disaster declaration to open Federal resources for small businesses, and I am calling on GKN Aerospace to compensate the families and small businesses who have lost money because of their crisis.
GKN leadership informed me last night that they are establishing a $3 million fund through United Way to provide relief for those with the greatest financial need.
While this decision is a necessary acknowledgment that they have broken faith with our community, it is insufficient. Every family and small business that was displaced or shut down during this crisis deserves full compensation. I expressed that, and this is nonnegotiable.
It is not enough to just cut checks for the damage already done. We need to make sure that a crisis like this can never happen again. Today, I am advancing legislation to ensure that defense contractors notify the community they operate in of any hazardous chemicals that put residents at risk.
Beyond that, companies must submit to regular third-party audits of their safety practices. Industries must invest in the most advanced, safest technologies that mitigate the risks of a major accident.
Orange County was lucky. We had no deaths and no injuries, but the events in Longview, Washington, remind us of how devastating the worst- case scenario can be.
As my community was picking up the pieces of our hazmat disaster in Garden Grove, we heard the terrible news from the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Company: 11 people perished in a chemical explosion.
My prayers are with the families, and I join their community in the cause for justice and accountability.
In Orange County, the worst is over for now, but our community is still reeling. We need answers. We need accountability. We need justice. I am not going to stop fighting until my community gets the recourse they deserve.
