Overheated chemical tank in southern California 'will fail', EPA chief says [View all]
Source: The Guardian
Sun 24 May 2026 15.36 EDT
Last modified on Sun 24 May 2026 19.23 EDT
Government officials in Orange county, California, have warned that an overheated chemical tank will fail and could result in a chemical explosion in the area, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator said on Sunday.
Were being told that the tank will fail, but there are different scenarios as to what that means, Lee Zeldin, told CNNs State of the Union on Sunday. Zeldin, a former Republican congressman with no prior experience in environmental policy, was chosen by Trump as the head of the EPA.
The most catastrophic scenario at the aerospace facility in the city of Garden Grove, just 5 miles from Disneyland, Zeldin said, would be an explosion that results in other tanks to explode. Thats the reason why you see such a big evacuation thats been done in the surrounding areas.
Zeldin noted that officials have said the most likely scenario is one with a low-volume release of the chemicals in the tank. Officials have been working to keep the temperature of the chemical tank below 85F by dumping the storage tank with water. On Friday, officials added a neutralizing agent to a nearby tank to limit the risk of explosion.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/24/chemical-tank-california-epa-lee-zeldin
REFERENCES
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