WATER is sprayed on a tank that overheated at an aerospace plant in Garden Grove, Calif., Friday, May 22, 2026. /Ethan Swope)
When will the compensation program for those affected by the GKN Aerospace hazmat incident be ready? When will the promised “town hall” be held? When will GKN’s Western Avenue factory resume operations?
Those questions were still largely unanswered after a situation update from Steve Carlin, spokesman for GKN.
We are finalizing the details of the [compensation]
“We are finalizing the details of the [compensation] program with the District Attorney’s office,” he said, and getting the approval of a judge who was overseeing the project.
But the program won’t be ready until after that’s completed, said Carlin.
The town hall, he said, will follow the completion of the compensation plan.
“We hope to have it before the end of October,” he said.
He was urged to not allow the date to drift of the promised town hall by Councilmember Yesenia Muneton. “I don’t want this to turn into November,” she said.
The suggestion that the facility would be ready to reopen by Sept. 28 was just a goal and not a firm date, said Carlin.
The GKN incident started on May 21 when
The GKN incident started on May 21 when a chemical tank began to overheat and had the potential to spill liquid or explode, releasing toxic vapor over a wide area.
That threat prompted the evacuation of persons over a nine-square-mile area including parts of West Garden Grove and bordering cities of Anaheim, Buena Park, Cypress, Stanton and Westminster.
On May 25 it was determined that the crack in the tank wall had relieved the pressure and the evacuation order was lifted the next day.
GKN has announced a $100 million damages claims program for affected businesses and residents.
To our readers: The city council meeting continued past our deadline. More complete coverage will follow in other articles.
