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Tens of thousands of people living near a damaged chemical tank in Orange County, California, are being allowed home, but another 16,000 nearby are still under evacuation orders. Kevin Tidmarsh of member station LAist has more.
KEVIN TIDMARSH, BYLINE: Orange County emergency officials struck a cautious but celebratory tone at a press conference on Monday.
(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)
CRAIG COVEY: We did it.
TIDMARSH: That's Craig Covey of the Orange County Fire Authority. He's been updating residents on the situation since late last week, when over 40,000 people near the GKN Aerospace facility in Garden Grove had to evacuate due to an emergency situation at a tank containing a hazardous chemical.
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COVEY: I was handed an incident that had two options - a spill or an explosion. That was unacceptable.
TIDMARSH: But soon after, emergency officials started aiming for another outcome by stabilizing the temperature of the tank so that it wouldn't explode or spring a leak.
(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)
COVEY: What we essentially were shooting for, in layman's terms, is to boil an egg. You have to control that temperature to get that egg done right and not crack the shell.
TIDMARSH: The shell - that is, the tank - did end up cracking, but Covey says this helped relieve pressure on the tank and didn't lead to any leaks. He said he's optimistic more people will be able to return home soon.
While emergency officials work around the clock, residents in nearby Orange County communities have piled into hotels and temporary shelters. So many people needed a place to stay this weekend that officials asked residents not to camp overnight on state beaches. Only one of the five evacuation shelters in a high school several miles away still had space before some evacuation orders were lifted Monday. Geri Cox of Stanton, who had to evacuate, says she's concerned about how little information she's gotten.
GERI COX: Not knowing how toxic this chemical is, the improper care for these sensitive storage containers. Nobody was prepared for this.
TIDMARSH: Emergency officials say the risk of the tank exploding right now is very small. The remaining evacuation orders are in place in the event of a spill. GKN Aerospace, which manages the facility, is already facing a class action lawsuit from residents linked to the incident, and local officials say they'll launch an investigation. Meanwhile, GKN has apologized for the emergency in a statement. The company did not comment on the lawsuit or pending investigation.
For NPR News, I'm Kevin Tidmarsh in Los Angeles.
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