The FBI launched an early morning raid on the Orange County GKN Aerospace facility that overheated and threatened to explode, prompting a mass evacuation in May.

According to a report from PBS, dozens of FBI agents and federal vehicles arrived at the aerospace facility early Wednesday as authorities executed a search warrant and seized evidence related to the incident.

The news outlet reported:

Federal authorities served a search warrant on Wednesday at a Southern California aerospace facility where a chemical tank overheated last month, forcing 50,000 residents to evacuate.

The warrant signed by a federal judge last week approved the seizure of documents and records related to the “storage, use, or disposal” of methyl methacrylate, the chemical inside the affected tank.

“Samples of the substance within any tank, tote, drum, vat, vessel, or container suspected of containing or having previously contained methyl methacrylate and/or any hazardous substance” were also sought, according to the warrant.

The warrant also orders agents to seize records related to “any cooling equipment or other equipment used to control or regulate the temperature of methyl methacrylate.”

[…]

Separately, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office also is conducting a criminal investigation into the GKN Aerospace plant, according to spokesperson Kimberly Edds.

“We have sent a preservation letter to GKN directing them not to modify or destroy any evidence, which the company’s outside counsel confirmed receipt,” Edds told The Associated Press in an email.

HAPPENING NOW: the FBI has issued a search warrant to collect documents and material related to the chemical spill in garden grove at GKN aerospace @californiapost pic.twitter.com/copTVxsEuG

— Ben Brown (@bdbrown473) June 10, 2026

It appears GKN Aerospace employees are being sent home as the FBI conducts the raid on the facility in Garden Grove pic.twitter.com/V2QtdGtoCT

— Ben Brown (@bdbrown473) June 10, 2026

The raid comes weeks after a massive chemical emergency at the plant sent shockwaves across Orange County.

The Gateway Pundit previously reported that California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) declared a state of emergency last month, as experts warned that a chemical tank overheating in Orange County could explode.

50,000 residents in Orange County, California, were evacuated amid a chemical leak at an aerospace facility.

Authorities said the tank, located in Garden Grove, could either explode or spill thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals.

A tank containing thousands of gallons of methyl methacrylate, a highly flammable chemical used in plastics manufacturing, entered a dangerous thermal runaway reaction after a cooling system failure.

GKN Aerospace — a major supplier of cockpit windows, jet canopies, and aircraft transparencies for both commercial and military planes — has a documented history of environmental violations at this very Garden Grove facility.

In early 2025 the company paid nearly $910,000 to settle with the South Coast Air Quality Management District over permit violations, missing emissions records, and nitrogen oxide issues.

Earlier settlements and citations dating back to a 2020 inspection revealed repeated failures: operating equipment without proper permits, modifying permitted equipment without approval, exceeding volatile organic compound limits, and even using hexavalent chromium (a known carcinogen). The company has paid out close to $1 million in prior penalties without ever fully admitting guilt.

Yet the risky chemical storage and operations continued right next to dense residential neighborhoods.

On June 9, GKN senior vice president Steve Carlin finally showed up at a Garden Grove City Council meeting to apologize, calling the event “disruptive” and “unsettling.”

The company donated $3 million to a local relief fund to help residents with evacuation costs. Dozens of lawsuits have already been filed. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer is running a parallel criminal investigation.

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