OC DA Spitzer announces investigation into owner of Garden Grove chemical tank at risk of exploding

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office has opened an investigation into the owner of a malfunctioning chemical storage tank in Garden Grove that has forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents as fire crews race to avoid an explosion.

Calling the situation “horrific,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer late Saturday announced the probe into GKN Aerospace and its handling of the overheated chemical tank.

That includes, the DA said, opening a hotline for employees who may have information.

“It is certainly unreasonable to believe that any responsible defense contractor that makes aircraft windows and uses volatile chemicals in the process would have failures of its cooling system that maintains the safety level of its chemicals,” Spitzer said, in an interview. “There will be incredible costs associated with this situation and I’m going to be front and center in making sure people are made whole.”

Prosecutors are asking anyone with information about the circumstances leading up to the incident to get in touch with the DA’s office. That includes details about industrial operations at the plant and about the quality and frequency of maintenance of the tanks and safety systems.

Tipsters were asked to call the OC DA anonymous tip hotline at 714-347-8714, to email prosecutors at tipster@ocdistrictattorney.gov or to submit tips directly online.

Spitzer spent time at the unified command center as first responders oversaw efforts to address the compromised chemical tank, which remained under threat of potentially exploding late Saturday. He was working with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department to collect drone footage and close-ups of the facility tanks and cooling systems.