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Posted on 05/24/2026 1:27:44 PM PDT by Red Badger
California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) declared a state of emergency on Saturday evening as experts warned that the chemical tank that is overheating in Orange County could explode.
40,000 residents in Orange County, California, were evacuated on Friday amid a chemical leak at an aerospace facility.
On Thursday, a valve overheated on a 34,000-gallon tank used to make plastics.
Authorities said the tank, located in Garden Grove, could either explode or spill thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals.
Several evacuation centers were opened; however, many residents are still refusing to leave their homes.
On Friday evening, Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief and Unified Incident Commander Craig Covey said the temperature of the tank had come down.
“It’s down to a temperature around 61 degrees, with 50 being its happy place,” Craig Covey said.
However, Covey walked back his statement on Saturday and said drones were measuring the temperature outside of the tank.
As of Saturday, the tank's internal temperature is around 100 degrees, up from 77 degrees on Friday.
On Sunday, TJ McGovern, the Interim Fire Chief for the Orange County Fire Authority, said firefighters discovered a crack in the tank late Saturday night, which could be relieving some of the pressure.
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From what I gather the outlet or outlet valve locked up and the tank can’t be drained. There is no secondary outlet.
LOL No... it will be NOTHING like Bhopal. That was a cyanide event that killed 8,000 people in a highly densely populated area.
This will be a VERY short-term “big bang”, that will damage buildings within a half-mile, maybe break some windows a little farther.
No people should be killed.... unless they are REALLY stupid.. or, super-brave (ie: killed while trying to stop it)
The valves are gummed up or otherwise jammed. Maybe due to the methyl methacrylate polymerizing.
The chemical can spontaneously react with itself and generate heat.
Worst case it blows up taking out a chunk of west Orange County, although the Chinese investors who have been gobbling up burned out properties in Pacific Palisades and Malibu may think this is a grand opportunity.
Valve is stuck...................
It sounds like a bunch of idiots were involved in its design. No pressure relief system. No secondary means to evacuate the liquid in the tank or add inhibitors.
Well they could always call the EPA and they could just burn the dang thing. They already have experience doing that with trains.
Well... my bad. I should never put a “LOL” in the same post as anything about “Bhopal”. It was a worst-case scenario. Just awful.
I was working in the cyanide industry when Bhopal happened. The SAME kind of event very nearly happened near Monterey, Mexico shortly after. The ONLY reason it didn’t? The wind, at night, was blowing a different direction...
The industry made BIG changes after that “silent near miss”.
they had a certified pressure relief system... it failed.
Yeah I know about Bhopal. I just thought “Bhopal by the Sea” had a nice ring to it.
There is hope...
They seem to think there is a crack in the tank. If true, it could be venting off pressure, slowly... which could prevent a catastrophic release.
So what does a toxic chemical spill do to one’s carbon footprint??
Yea... I guess... but man... 8,000 people DIED! It’s the worst event in the chemical business history.
I made the same mistake. We should leave that one buried. :-(
Your Carbon Credits go up in smoke...................
Helped destroy Union Carbide and put a lot of people in the Kanawha Valley WV out of work! The exact same plant was down the road from me less then 10 miles where i grew up. Went to school with a lot of kids whose parents worked there. I think the site is now owned by either Bayer Agri-Chemicals or Rhone Poulenc.
oh... it DID destroy Union Carbide.
The company I worked with.. ( I won’t name them) exited the business thereafter. This was just after I had worked a startup on a brand-new plant. I hated to see it. But, I didn’t blame them. I would have done the same.
That’s why you should have two in parallel. You can test valve each individually without opening the tank. What a clusterf..k.
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The very weakened Union Carbide was then acquired later by Dow. The tech center and all of the R/D operations were I think moved to Saint Louis. It even operated Oak Ridge at one time. Caused a lot of heartache in my little town.
I’ve read That too.
Mt. ST. Helen’s was Fairly big
But a storage tank in California
Just gives Newsome some Face Time to Save the ‘Planet!’
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I Need to keep things in perspective
And Mock the pretty Libtard.
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Cheers!
It sounds like a bunch of idiots were involved in its design.
That’s what I was thinking.
Diehard Californians refuse to evacuate near epicenter of ticking time-bomb chemical plant
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