🇺🇸 영어 원문
Some 50,000 residents of Garden Grove, California remain under an evacuation order Sunday as emergency response teams struggle to deal with a potentially explosive situation at a nearby aerospace manufacturing plant.
The tank, which is located in the southeastern corner of the GKN Aerospace facility in Garden Grove, California, holds somewhere around 7,000 gallons of methyl methacrylate, a highly toxic, highly flammable chemical used in the manufacturing of resins and plastics.
Late Saturday, firefighters approached the tank to “get eyes” on what was happening, TJ McGovern, interim county fire chief for the Orange County Fire Authority, said in a post on social media. “What they found was a potential crack in the tank.”
The incident at GKN Aerospace began Thursday, according to emergency responders. It remains unclear exactly what went wrong, but the chemicals in the tank began to exceed a safe temperature.
Methyl methacrylate is a clear, colorless liquid that is highly volatile and releases energy exothermically when it reacts. If that reaction occurs in a container, then it can cause a sudden pressure build up, effectively turning the container into an explosive.
Residents of Garden Grove were asked to evacuate Friday after officials warned that a tank holding a toxic chemical could explode. That’s exactly what happened at a plant in the United Kingdom in October 2009. According to one report, an explosion at a resin manufacturing site involving the chemical destroyed the factory and caused blast damage to adjacent buildings. Nobody was killed, but windows were blown out as far as 600 ft. from the blast site.
The tank in California suffered damage and had already begun to bulge outward, according to Craig Covey, the incident commander at Orange County Fire. The tank is being continuously sprayed with water to keep it cool. It sits next to two other tanks, one of which was safely drained and neutralized, and the other of which seems stable for now.
Speaking on Friday, Covey told reporters that if the damaged tank cracked, it could actually be the best outcome. While far from ideal, it would be better if the 7,000 gallons leaked out slowly rather than sparking an explosion inside the tank. “In a weird world that’s the best case scenario believe it or not,” he said. “Because once it comes out it is no longer an explosive hazard.”
The company which owns the plant, GKN Aerospace, said on Sunday that it was “working around the clock to mitigate the risk of a leak.” The risks are numerous – methyl methacrylate can irritate the skin and eyes. It can also cause respiratory issues, neurological symptoms including headaches.
🇰🇷 한국어 요약
캘리포니아 가든 그로브 지역에 있는 항공우주 공장 근처에서 대형 화학 탱크에 균열이 생겨 주민 5 만 명이 대피 명령을 받은 사건입니다. 이 탱크에는 플라스틱과 수지 제조에 쓰이는 ‘메틸 메타크릴레이트’라는 독성이 있고 잘 타는 화학 물질이 담겨 있었습니다. 탱크 내부 온도가 너무 올라가면 폭발할 위험이 있어 소방관들이 물을 뿌려 식히고 있습니다. 만약 탱크가 터져서 액체가 조금씩 새는 것이 탱크 안에서 폭발하는 것보다 나을 수 있다는 소방관의 설명도 있습니다. 이는 2009 년 영국에서 비슷한 화학 물질로 인한 폭발 사고가 있었던 경험에서 나온 판단입니다.
🔑 핵심 단어 (Vocabulary)
- Evacuate – 대피하다 – Residents were asked to evacuate Friday.
- Toxic – 독성의 – A tank holding a toxic chemical could explode.
- Flammable – 인화성이 있는 – A highly toxic, highly flammable chemical.
- Volatile – 휘발성이 있는 – Methyl methacrylate is a clear, colorless liquid that is highly volatile.
- Exothermic – 발열 반응의 – Releases energy exothermically when it reacts.
- Mitigate – 완화하다 – Working around the clock to mitigate the risk of a leak.
- Hazard – 위험, 해 – Once it comes out it is no longer an explosive hazard.
- Neutralize – 중화시키다 – One of which was safely drained and neutralized.
- Incident – 사건, 사고 – The incident at GKN Aerospace began Thursday.
- Resin – 수지 – Used in the manufacturing of resins and plastics.