Search teams prepared to continue their work Wednesday looking for nine employees at a Washington state paper mill following a devastating tank collapse that released a dangerous chemical mixture known as “white liquor,” resulting in one confirmed fatality.
Officials stated there was no expectation of locating additional survivors from Tuesday’s tank collapse at Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. in Longview, an incident that also left nine others wounded, including a firefighter who responded to the scene. However, before recovery teams can retrieve any remains of those still missing, workers must first secure the damaged tank on Wednesday, as it remains unstable and could release additional caustic chemicals.
The collapse caused the massive round tank to cave in and crumple on one side, with officials announcing they would limit operations to daylight hours due to safety concerns. Although the cause has not been determined, authorities confirmed there was no danger to the surrounding community, a Columbia River town of approximately 40,000 residents with deep connections to Washington and Oregon’s paper and timber sectors.
This marked the second significant chemical tank incident in recent days along the West Coast, coming after thousands of Southern California residents were evacuated due to a compromised tank at an aerospace facility before evacuation orders were canceled Tuesday evening.
The industrial tank contained approximately 900,000 gallons (3.4 million liters) of a solution consisting primarily of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide. This substance, called white liquor, is combined with heat to break down wood fibers for producing kraft paper, a strong material used in packaging, shopping bags and similar products.
The extensive facility, which provides jobs for roughly 1,000 workers, produces materials for tissues, printing paper, cups, plates, and cartons. The plant is located riverside alongside other timber, paper and chemical operations.
During a community prayer service Tuesday evening, dozens of people came together to pray, light candles and comfort one another.
Crystal Moldenhauer, a Longview resident, said she has friends at the plant who remained unaccounted for. She said people called and texted each other all day trying to figure out what happened.
“We’re all still waiting for answers,” she said. “There’s families that have been torn apart, and we don’t know why.”
The cause of the implosion remained unclear.
Scott Goldstein, a fire chief with Cowlitz County, said Tuesday night that the tank still held about 90,000 gallons (more than 340,000 liters) of the volatile liquid.
“We don’t know until we know, hopefully tomorrow, how we can stabilize the tank. Do we remove the product first? Do we stabilize the tank first or the vice versa?” Goldstein said.
Hours after the disaster, officials repeatedly referred to the situation as a recovery effort.
Some of those who were injured suffered burns or inhalation injuries, authorities said.
Following the tank’s rupture, the liquid spilled into a drainage ditch, said Brittny Goodsell, a state Ecology Department spokesperson.
“I know there’s a lot of questions about how all of this happened and I want to assure you that we will all continue to pressure to get answers to those questions,” Murray said.
Safety complaints were filed against Nippon Dynawave in March and May. The state’s labor and industries department said on X that both were unrelated to the current situation. One was an anonymous complaint about a valve on a tank, according to the department, which noted that it was not the tank that imploded.
Nippon Dynawave, a subsidiary of Japan-based Nippon Paper Group, has been fined $3,400 for three separate health and safety violations found by Washington Department of Labor and Industries inspectors since the start of 2021, according to the department’s online database.
Just over 40 people died between January 2021 and mid-October 2023 as a result of hazardous chemical incidents in the U.S., according to a paper released by a network of environmental justice organizations in late 2023.
