GKN Aerospace is confronting mass tort litigation across two court systems and a joint criminal investigation by the FBI and the Environmental Protection Agency, after a flammable chemical tank at its Garden Grove, California facility overheated in May, forcing the evacuation of approximately 50,000 residents across Orange County for up to five days.
More than 30 lawsuits have now been filed against the UK-headquartered manufacturer, covering over 100 individual plaintiffs as well as local businesses. Ten cases were filed as class actions in US federal court, with a further 21 suits lodged in California state court.
The claims allege negligence in the maintenance of the tank, cooling system, valves and monitoring infrastructure, with plaintiffs seeking both compensatory and punitive damages. Lawyer Richard McCune, who filed a class action on behalf of affected businesses including Big Rob’s Pizzeria, said data indicated around 3,000 businesses were forced to shut during the evacuation, with thousands more suffering significant revenue losses over the Memorial Day weekend.
The civil litigation is compounded by a rapidly developing criminal dimension. FBI agents executed a search warrant at the facility on June 11, seeking documents relating to the storage, use and disposal of methyl methacrylate — a highly flammable liquid used in plastics manufacturing, of which the tank held between 6,000 and 7,000 gallons.
The EPA confirmed it had joined the search to seize evidence of potential federal environmental crimes, though it declined to comment further on the active investigation. Plaintiffs’ lawyer Sean Litteral said the FBI search would strengthen civil cases, while GKN Aerospace said through a spokesperson it “respects the legal process.”
Adam Zimmerman, professor at the USC Gould School of Law, said the federal class actions are likely to be consolidated before a single judge, with several state court cases potentially transferred to federal jurisdiction to ensure procedural efficiency. GKN Aerospace senior vice president Steve Carlin addressed a community meeting this week, expressing regret over the incident. GKN’s UK-listed parent, Melrose Industries, faces shareholder scrutiny as the scale of potential liability becomes clearer.
The GKN situation illustrates how quickly an industrial incident can generate simultaneous civil and criminal exposure across multiple jurisdictions for in-house counsel at UK-headquartered manufacturers with US operations. PI insurers covering aerospace and industrial risks, including those with GKN and Melrose Industries on their books, will be assessing aggregated exposure across the federal and state dockets as consolidation proceedings begin.
Law firms with cross-border product liability and environmental enforcement practices, particularly those with US federal court capability alongside UK corporate advisory capacity, are best positioned to advise on the dual-track risk now facing GKN and its parent. The EPA’s willingness to execute search warrants and seize evidence within weeks of the incident signals an enforcement posture that practitioners advising industrial clients in the US cannot afford to underestimate.