In today's newscast:
Pride 2026
Cities across Monterey County are marking Pride Month. The Monterey County Board of Supervisors raised a pride flag in Salinas today. Over the weekend, Marina, Monterey and Del Rey Oaks had flag raising ceremonies, and Seaside had one yesterday. There are more scheduled around the county this week. Monterey Peninsula Pride is set for June 27.
Aerospace Plant leak exposes regulatory gaps
More than 50,000 people had to evacuate Orange County over Memorial Day Weekend because a tank at an aerospace plant in Garden Grove was at risk of exploding.
Now a new report from our partner CalMatters has found the chemical that could have triggered an explosion…may fall outside California’s toughest safety rules.
Methyl methacrylate is used to make hard clear plastics like aircraft windows. When it overheats, it reacts with itself, building pressure that can rupture a tank.
As our partners at CalMatters have reported, the chemical is not regulated under the U.S. EPA’s Risk Management Program or California’s parallel system. That could mean the damaged tank was overseen under an alternate hazardous-materials program, which would leave regulators with fewer tools to manage its storage.
Facilities housing methyl methacrylate may also be left out of community emergency planning because the substance isn’t regulated under federal and state accident prevention programs either. That could leave nearby residents without information about the risks they face or how officials would respond in the event of a catastrophe.
