California’s request for a federal emergency declaration has been approved, allowing FEMA to support ongoing efforts with the chemical incident in Garden Grove.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and a bevy of bipartisan elected officials in Southern California had requested that President Donald Trump approve an emergency declaration. Such a declaration can provide federal cost-share support for “urgent, lifesaving and life-sustaining actions,” Newsom’s office said, including evacuations, emergency medical support, shelter and “other protective operations.”
Experts and emergency crews have been working since Thursday to try to prevent a potentially catastrophic chemical spill or explosion at GKN Aerospace. The tank is filled with 7,000 gallons of a highly flammable chemical called methyl methacrylate. By Monday morning, officials said a crack inside the malfunctioning chemical tank is reducing pressure inside the container, leading fire officials to say they have turned a corner in heading off the most catastrophic threat, a highly destructive blast known as a “boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion,” or “BLEVE.”
FEMA sent an email to lawmakers — which the Southern California News Group obtained — on Monday, May 25, saying their request for an emergency declaration had been approved.
“The Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),” the email said, “is authorized to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the designated areas.”
The declaration expands what has already been a massive local and state response to the crisis.
“The approval,” Newsom’s office said in a press release, “comes as California continues leading a coordinated whole-of-government response to protect residents, support evacuations, monitor environmental conditions and assist Orange County communities impacted by the incident.”
Rep. Derek Tran, D-Orange, who also requested the federal assistance, expressed gratitude to the first responders who have been working throughout the holiday weekend to keep the community safe.
“A federal emergency declaration will provide necessary additional support to protect public health, safeguard our environment and defray the significant cost of this crisis,” Tran said in a statement.
The declaration listed the incident period as beginning on Thursday, May 21, and said FEMA can provide emergency protective measures at 75% federal funding.
“Additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the State and warranted by the results of further evaluation,” it said. “This is an emergency declaration.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about an emergency declaration on Monday, but an official said in an email that the “administration is engaged and monitoring the situation in Garden Grove.”
An emergency declaration supplements state and local efforts to provide emergency services, “such as the protection of lives, property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in any part of the United States,” according to FEMA.
Newsom’s office had said such a declaration could also help with various emergency protective measures, including helping pay for equipment and overtime as local agencies keep people safe. And it would allow FEMA to provide additional services, including technical support and specialized equipment, the governor’s office said.
Newsom already declared a state of emergency in Orange County on Saturday.
That emergency proclamation by Newsom unlocked additional resources for local officials and directed state emergency operations officials to focus on supporting local authorities in grappling with the ongoing emergency.