Stanton, with about 40,000 residents, has long been a regional afterthought, the type of community that makes the news only when a tragedy happens

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. — For many Southern California residents who were evacuated after a chemical tank overheated, the relief of finally being allowed to return home has been overshadowed by lingering fears of living near the aerospace plant that has faced problems.

GKN Aerospace is accused of acting negligently and being responsible for tens of thousands of evacuations. So far, 8 lawsuits representing 70 people have been filed.

Evacuation orders have lifted after the Garden Grove chemical scare, but GKN Aerospace now faces class-action lawsuits and questions over negligence that displaced roughly 50,000 residents for days. The Garden Grove plant is a rare global supplier of fighter-jet canopies and airliner windows.

GKN Aerospace, the company that owns the troubled chemical tank in Garden Grove that led to tens of thousands of people being evacuated this week, recently settled an air quality safety violation and agreed to pay a fine of more than $900,

A runaway reaction at GKN Aerospace caused a BLEVE, forcing 50,000 to evacuate as firefighters worked to prevent disaster.

Garden Grove residents have been allowed to return to their homes after the threat of a catastrophic explosion from an overheating chemical tank was eliminated, but many say they still don’t feel safe and are calling for the plant to be shut down.

GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems on May 23, 2026, in Garden Grove, California. Credit: Apu Gomes/ GKN Aerospace's parent company Melrose says one of its industrial sites in the U.S. has suffered a chemical accident and signaled it could cause operational disruptions.