[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 95 (Thursday, June 4, 2026)]
[House]
[Page H3835]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       GARDEN GROVE HAZMAT CRISIS

  (Mr. Tran of California was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Mr. TRAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank the first responders who 
have worked tirelessly to respond to the hazmat crisis at the GKN 
Aerospace plant in Garden Grove.
  Over Memorial Day weekend, our firefighters, police officers, and 
other emergency personnel worked around the clock to keep our community 
safe.
  They quickly evacuated over 50,000 residents and businesses who could 
have been injured by a major explosion.
  At the beginning of the crisis, our emergency officials were told 
that there were only two options: a disastrous explosion or a 
catastrophic leak. But to our public safety heroes, that was 
unacceptable, and they accomplished what was initially thought 
impossible. They neutralized the tank and got our neighbors back in 
their homes without any dangerous chemicals leaking into our water or 
air.
  I especially thank Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief and 
Incident Commander Craig Covey, Fire Chief TJ McGovern, Garden Grove 
Police Chief Amir El-Farra, and Orange County Health Officer Dr. Regina 
Chinsio-Kwong.
  Their leadership was instrumental in mitigating this crisis, and 
their communication to my office and my constituents was instrumental 
in keeping our community safe.
  The evacuation was lifted last week, the incident has transitioned 
out of the emergency response phase, but we still need more.
  While our community avoided catastrophic physical damage, 50,000 
residents and 5,000 small businesses still face major hardship. 
Families had to spend their emergency funds on unplanned hotel stays, 
extra grocery runs, and extra supplies and medication.
  Businesses lost multiple days of critical revenue over a holiday 
weekend. People who worked in the evacuation zone missed out on 
multiple days of wages because their workplace was forced to shut down.
  We need to make them whole. I have called on the Small Business 
Administration to issue its own disaster declaration to open Federal 
resources for small businesses, and I am calling on GKN Aerospace to 
compensate the families and small businesses who have lost money 
because of their crisis.
  GKN leadership informed me last night that they are establishing a $3 
million fund through United Way to provide relief for those with the 
greatest financial need.
  While this decision is a necessary acknowledgment that they have 
broken faith with our community, it is insufficient. Every family and 
small business that was displaced or shut down during this crisis 
deserves full compensation. I expressed that, and this is 
nonnegotiable.
  It is not enough to just cut checks for the damage already done. We 
need to make sure that a crisis like this can never happen again. 
Today, I am advancing legislation to ensure that defense contractors 
notify the community they operate in of any hazardous chemicals that 
put residents at risk.
  Beyond that, companies must submit to regular third-party audits of 
their safety practices. Industries must invest in the most advanced, 
safest technologies that mitigate the risks of a major accident.
  Orange County was lucky. We had no deaths and no injuries, but the 
events in Longview, Washington, remind us of how devastating the worst-
case scenario can be.
  As my community was picking up the pieces of our hazmat disaster in 
Garden Grove, we heard the terrible news from the Nippon Dynawave 
Packaging Company: 11 people perished in a chemical explosion.
  My prayers are with the families, and I join their community in the 
cause for justice and accountability.
  In Orange County, the worst is over for now, but our community is 
still reeling. We need answers. We need accountability. We need 
justice. I am not going to stop fighting until my community gets the 
recourse they deserve.

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