Follow-Up: GKN's $100 Million Claims Program Is Open: Up to $300 a Night for Lodging and $5,000 a Day for Business Losses
The GKN Aerospace chemical incident in Garden Grove, in California's Orange County, has reached its next stage: a claims program of up to $100 million opened for applications at noon on October 27, and residents and businesses inside the evacuation zone can now file through the GKN claims program website. The claims are reviewed by an independent administrator, Ernst & Young (EY) — not by GKN itself.
From May 21 to 26 this year, an overheated storage tank at GKN's Garden Grove plant released methyl methacrylate vapor, forcing evacuation orders across Garden Grove, west Anaheim, Cypress, Buena Park, Stanton and Westminster and sending more than 50,000 residents from their homes for days. On October 19, an Orange County Superior Court judge approved the District Attorney's $125 million resolution with GKN, of which up to $100 million funds this claims program.
The published compensation levels: lodging up to $300 per night for up to five nights, with up to $500 per night or additional nights considered in certain circumstances; meals at $50 per person per day for up to five days; transportation at $20 per household per day, or up to $50 with documentation; a $500 per-household loss-of-use payment covering needs such as childcare and pet care; lost wages up to $500 per day for a maximum of three working days; and documented business lost profits up to $5,000 per day for businesses forced to close. The west Anaheim portion of the evacuation zone alone covered about 2,000 homes and 150 businesses.
Applicants should have proof of address, identification and records of expenses or lost wages ready. Filing a claim does not require accepting an offer, but accepting compensation requires releasing incident-related claims against GKN and related parties. The claims hotline is (657) 526-7470, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific, with help in English, Vietnamese, Spanish and Korean. Claims will be accepted for six months or until $100 million in claims are approved, whichever comes first.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Orange County 县政大楼（资料图）。图片：GSM 自家图库。 / Orange County government building (file photo). GSM asset library.
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- 2026-10-31Follow-Up: GKN's $100 Million Claims Program Is Open: Up to $300 a Night for Lodging and $5,000 a Day for Business LossesThis story
