Chemical Tank Ruptures at Longview, Washington, Paper Mill, Killing Workers

A tank holding a caustic chemical solution ruptured Tuesday morning at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging paper mill in Longview, Washington, killing multiple people and injuring others, according to Al Jazeera and Newsweek. Authorities have confirmed fatalities but have not said how many, and the fire chief described the death toll as still “undetermined,” Al Jazeera reported.

The failure happened at about 7:15 a.m. at the plant in Cowlitz County, roughly 45 miles north of Portland, Oregon, Al Jazeera reported; Newsweek put the time at about 7:19 a.m. The tank held “white liquor,” a solution of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide used in making paper pulp, both outlets reported. Fire Chief Scott Goldstein said the tank had an 80,000-gallon capacity and was about 60 percent full, Al Jazeera reported.

At least nine workers and one firefighter were taken to hospitals, Al Jazeera reported. PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center reported nine patients, one of whom died, six of them in fair condition, and two were transferred to other facilities, according to the outlet. Injuries included chemical burns and “multiple critical injuries,” Al Jazeera said. Newsweek reported that several victims suffered chemical burns and inhalation injuries and were decontaminated at the scene before being taken to hospitals in Longview and Vancouver, Washington. No missing people had been reported, according to Al Jazeera.

About 40 firefighters and paramedics and a regional hazardous-materials team responded, Newsweek reported. A joint statement from the Longview Fire Department, Nippon and the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office said the incident posed “no immediate threat to the surrounding community,” Al Jazeera reported. Officials urged the public to stay away from the area, Newsweek said. The cause has not been stated, and neither outlet described an investigation.

Nippon Dynawave employs about 1,000 people and makes paper and packaging materials, Newsweek reported. The Washington Department of Ecology has fined the company for permit violations, including exceeding wastewater discharge and sulfur dioxide emission limits, and cited it for high-pH wastewater discharges in 2020 and 2021, Newsweek reported. A large fire fed by wood chip piles burned at the site for days in July 2023 without injuries but with regional air quality warnings, according to Newsweek. Those earlier violations have not been connected to Tuesday’s failure.

Longview is a city of about 38,000 people on the Columbia River, Newsweek noted. Al Jazeera reported separately that in Garden Grove, California, where authorities had been monitoring an overheating tank of methyl methacrylate at an aerospace plant, a crack relieved pressure and officials ruled out the worst-case explosion on Monday, and crews were working to let evacuated residents return home as soon as possible.