Authorities in Washington state said Tuesday there is no hope of finding survivors after a massive tank imploded at a paper mill in Longview, leaving nine workers missing and prompting a shift from rescue to recovery operations.
The incident occurred at Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co., where a tank holding about 900,000 gallons of white liquor, a caustic mixture of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide, buckled and collapsed. The failure released the highly destructive chemical, killing at least one person and injuring nine others, including a responding firefighter.
Crews planned to resume searching Wednesday but first needed to stabilize the damaged tank to prevent further collapse and additional leaks of the volatile liquid. Officials noted they would limit work to daylight hours due to safety risks at the site along the Columbia River.
"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?" said Scott Goldstein, a Cowlitz County fire chief.
The cause of the implosion remains unknown, though authorities emphasized there was no ongoing threat to the surrounding community of about 40,000 residents. The plant, which employs roughly 1,000 people and produces materials for tissues, printing paper, cups, plates, and cartons, sits amid other timber and chemical operations.
At a community vigil held Tuesday night, dozens gathered to pray, light candles, and support one another. Crystal Moldenhauer, a Longview resident with friends at the plant, described the uncertainty gripping the area. "We’re all still waiting for answers," she said. "There’s families that have been torn apart, and we don’t know why."
Some of the injured workers suffered burns or inhalation injuries from the chemical release, which spilled into a drainage ditch, according to Brittny Goodsell, a spokesperson for the state Ecology Department. Officials repeatedly described the effort as a recovery operation in the hours after the disaster.
The event marks the second notable chemical tank incident on the West Coast in recent days, following the evacuation of thousands in Southern California due to a damaged tank at an aerospace plant. Those evacuation orders were lifted Tuesday night.
Safety complaints had been filed against Nippon Dynawave in March and May, but the state’s labor and industries department stated both were unrelated to the tank that imploded. One involved an anonymous report about a valve on a different tank. Since the start of 2021, the company has faced $3,400 in fines for three separate health and safety violations, according to department records.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee addressed the situation, saying, "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."
The sprawling facility makes kraft paper used in packaging and shopping bags. The tank failure released a mixture primarily composed of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide, used in the kraft process to break down wood fibers with heat.
Associated Press reporters contributed to coverage from multiple locations, including Boise, Seattle, and Albuquerque. The company is a subsidiary of Japan-based Nippon Paper Group.
Officials stressed that recovery of any remains would only proceed after the tank is secured, with about 90,000 gallons of the liquid still inside at one point. The plant has long ties to the regional paper and lumber industries.