GARDEN GROVE CITY COUNCIL
RESOLUTION NO. ___
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GARDEN GROVE RATIFYING THE CITY MANAGER/DIRECTOR OF EMERGENCY SERVICES’
PROCLAMATION DECLARING THE EXISTENCE OF A LOCAL EMERGENCY ON MAY 22, 2026, DUE TO THE EXPECTED FAILURE OF CHEMICAL TANKS ON PROPERTY LOCATED AT 12122 WESTERN AVENUE.
WHEREAS, Garden Grove Municipal Code Section 6.08.070(A)(1) empowers the City Manager, as the Director of Emergency Services, to declare the existence or threatened existence of a local emergency when the City is affected or likely to be affected by a public calamity and the City Council is not in session; and
WHEREAS, Government Code Section 8550 et seq. , including Section 8558(c), authorize the City Manager to proclaim a local emergency when the City is threatened by conditions of disaster or extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within the City that are likely to be beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of the City; and
WHEREAS, one of three chemical tanks with approximately 34,000 gallons of methyl methacrylate at a local business located at 12122 Western Avenue in the City of Garden Grove were showing evidence of failure with releases of vapors and the possibility of chemical leaks and/or an explosion leading to major damage to surrounding properties and possible contamination of the local air quality at levels hazardous to humans, animals, and other living organism; and WHEREAS, Garden Grove is a densely populated city within Orange County, which is the sixth largest county in the United States, with one of the highest population densities; and
WHEREAS, conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons, animals, and property has arisen due to the potential chemical leaks and/or explosions; and WHEREAS, such conditions were beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of the City and require d the combined forces of other political subdivisions to respond; and
WHEREAS, the mobilization of local resources, ability to coordinate interagency response, accelerate procurement of vital supplies, use mutual aid, and allow for future reimbursement by the state and federal governments was critical to successfully respond to the potential health and safety conditions in the City; and WHEREAS, the City Council does hereby find that the conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons, animals, and property described in the City Manager/Director of Emergency Services’ Proclamation attached hereto as Exhibit 1 and incorporated hereto by reference, did warrant and necessitate the proclamation of the existence of a local emergency in the City of Garden Grove; and
Resolution No. ___
WHEREAS, the City Manager acting as the City's Director of Emergency Services did proclaim the existence of a local emergency as authorized by Government Code section 8630 and Garden Grove Municipal Code section 6.08.070(A)(1); and
WHEREAS, the Orange County Fire Authority, providing the incident command for the incident, ordered evacuations from the danger zones affecting approximately 40,000 residents in Garden Grove, and the cities of Anaheim, Buena Park, Cypress, Seal Beach, and Westminster; and
WHEREAS, on May 23, 2026, Governor Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency in Orange County in response to the ongoing chemical incident in Garden Grove.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the City Council of the City of Garden Grove that the proclamation of the existence of a local emergency and evacuation orders, as issued by the City Manager acting as the Director of Emergency Services, and the Orange County Fire Authority, is/are hereby ratified and confirmed.
PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED ON this 26
th day of May, 2026.