Overview
- A pressurized storage tank holding roughly 6,000–7,000 gallons of methyl methacrylate overheated and began venting vapors on Thursday, May 21, prompting large sheltering and evacuation orders.
- Specialist teams conducting late-night reconnaissance located a likely pressure‑relieving crack in the tank and officials confirmed late Monday that the risk of a BLEVE catastrophic explosion has been eliminated.
- Responders have switched tactics to sustained external cooling, continuous temperature monitoring with drones and sensors, and preparations to dike and capture any liquid if a slow leak occurs.
- Mandatory evacuations covering about 40,000–50,000 residents remain in effect while air monitors have reported no elevated pollution inside the evacuation zone and state and federal teams continue sampling.
- Civil lawsuits and a criminal probe have been opened against GKN Aerospace, and authorities say the next decisions on lifting evacuations will depend on ongoing temperature trends, monitoring data and containment readiness.