Crews to resume search for 9 missing after deadly chemical tank rupture at Washington paper mill
Search teams are set to resume efforts Wednesday to locate nine workers still unaccounted for after a massive chemical tank rupture at a southwestern Washington paper mill killed at least one person and sent nine others to the hospital.
The rupture occurred around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. facility in Longview, where a 900,000-gallon tank holding a caustic mixture known as white liquor—used to break down wood chips in the pulp-making process—failed, releasing an estimated 500,000 gallons of liquid. Officials said roughly 90,000 gallons of material may still be inside the damaged tank.
Authorities suspended recovery operations Tuesday evening due to the tank's instability, which posed serious hazards for emergency crews. Scott Goldstein, chief of a Cowlitz County fire district, said the tank remained unstable late Tuesday, prompting crews to pull back. Fire officials later said local, regional and state agencies were coordinating with facility staff to “reinforce and stabilize the site” so that recovery could safely restart Wednesday morning.
The injured include eight employees and one firefighter, who was treated and released. PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center initially received nine patients from the facility, including the confirmed fatality; four others were transferred to a burn center in Portland. As of Tuesday evening, three patients had been discharged and one remained in fair condition, spokesperson Jim Murez said.
White liquor is highly caustic, capable of causing second- and third-degree burns on contact with skin, and inhaling concentrated vapor can be dangerous, according to Longview fire Battalion Chief Matt Amos. About half of the released liquid mixed with water from a ruptured on-site fire main, but officials said all of it “is remaining on site.” They detected an initial pH spike in a few nearby waterways and shut down dike system pumps to keep it contained, asking residents to avoid ditches in the area.
The Washington State Department of Ecology deployed a spills team to monitor air and water quality. Spokesperson Brittny Goodsell said responders had not detected any air quality issues beyond the immediate scene, adding that a second air monitoring team was en route. “We currently don’t have concerns for public health outside of the scene at this time,” she said.
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson pledged the state’s full support Tuesday, saying officials would “do everything we can to help the situation.”
Community members gathered Tuesday evening in Longview for a vigil honoring the victims and those still missing. Some held candles and bowed their heads in prayer as faith leaders urged unity. “We’re here this evening because when one of us grieves, we all grieve,” said the Rev. Mark Schmutz, senior pastor of Northlake Church.
Longview resident Crystal Moldenhauer, who has friends still unaccounted for at the plant, described a day of frantic calls and texts. “We’re all still waiting for answers… There’s families that have been torn apart, and we don’t know why,” she told the Associated Press.
The rupture is the latest in a string of incidents at industrial facilities across the U.S. in recent months, some of them deadly. Less than a week earlier, officials in Southern California raced to prevent an overheating chemical tank from exploding, forcing tens of thousands to evacuate before a crack in the tank relieved pressure. In April, a chemical leak at a West Virginia plant killed two and injured more than a dozen. Last October, a massive explosion at a Tennessee explosives plant killed 16 employees and registered as a 1.6 magnitude earthquake. And two months before that, an explosion at a US Steel plant in Pennsylvania killed two workers and injured more than ten others.
The Nippon Dynawave Packaging mill, which employs about 1,000 people, produces pulp used in paper products and paperboard for cartons and cups. It treats its wastewater on-site before sending it to the Columbia River, according to state environmental records. The facility was already under two ongoing state inspections that were unrelated to the rupture—one opened in March after an anonymous complaint about a valve on a different tank, and another in May over a sinkhole from a failed drain. State officials had also cited the site for violations in three other inspections over the past five years, including a citation for failing to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards that could cause serious injury or death.
Details about how the tank ruptured have not yet been released. CNN has sought comment from Nippon Dynawave Packaging.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Andi Babineau contributed to this report.
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