Longview, Washington — Crews are scheduled to resume the search Wednesday for nine workers at a Washington paper mill where a tank exploded, releasing a highly destructive chemical mixture called “white liquor” and causing at least one confirmed death.
There is no hope of finding more survivors of Tuesday’s tank explosion at Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co., authorities said. in Longview, which also injured nine other people, including a firefighter. But before any bodies of the missing could be recovered, crews working Wednesday must first stabilize the tank, which was at risk of collapsing further and leaking more of the caustic liquid.
The internal explosion caused the huge circular tank to collapse and collapse on one side, and officials said they would only work during the day due to the dangers. While the cause remains unknown, authorities said there was no threat to the community, a city on the Columbia River with a population of about 40,000 people and long ties to the paper and lumber industries in Washington and Oregon.
It was the second notable chemical tank failure in days on the West Coast, following an accident Thousands of Southern California residents evacuated Due to tank damage at the aviation plant before those orders were lifted Tuesday night.
The paper mill tank contained about 900,000 gallons (3.4 million liters) of a liquid made mostly of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide. Known as the white liquid, it is used with heat to break down wood to make kraft paper, a durable material used in packaging, shopping bags and other products.
The sprawling factory, which employs about 1,000 people, manufactures materials needed to make napkins, printing paper, cups, plates and cardboard. It is located along the river next to lumber, paper and other chemical companies.
At a community vigil Tuesday night, dozens gathered to pray, light candles and hug their loved ones.
Crystal Moldenhauer, a Longview resident, said she has friends at the plant who are still missing. She said people called and texted each other throughout the day trying to find out what happened.
“We are all still waiting for answers,” she said. “There are families separated and we don’t know why.”
The cause of the internal explosion remained unclear.
The tank still contained about 90,000 gallons (more than 340,000 liters) of volatile liquid, Cowlitz County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein said Tuesday night.
“We don’t know until we know, hopefully tomorrow, how we install the tank. Do we remove the product first? Do we install the tank first or vice versa?” Goldstein said.
Hours after the disaster struck, officials repeatedly referred to the situation as a recovery effort.
Authorities said some of the injured suffered burns or inhalation.
After the tank ruptured, the liquid spilled into a drainage ditch, said Brittney Goodsell, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Ecology.
“I know there are a lot of questions about how this all happened and I want to assure you that we will continue to push for answers to those questions,” Murray said.
Safety complaints were filed against Nippon Dynawave in March and May. The state Department of Labor and Industries said on X that both have nothing to do with the current situation. One was an anonymous complaint about a valve on a tank, according to the department, which indicated it was not the tank that exploded.
Nippon Dynawave, a subsidiary of Japan-based Nippon Paper Group, was fined $3,400 for three separate health and safety violations discovered by Washington Department of Labor and Industries inspectors since the beginning 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 serious chemical accidents in the United States. According to the paper It was released by a network of environmental justice organizations in late 2023.
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Boone reported from Boise, Idaho. Associated Press reporters Gene Johnson and Haley Golden in Seattle and Christopher L. Keller in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed.