1 dead, 9 others missing and feared dead in Washington state chemical tank implosion

A monumental chemical substance tankful holding millions of litres of a extremely corrosive liquid state imploded and collapsed Tuesday at a Washington paper mill, killing at least one worker and leaving nine others unaccounted for with no hope for rescue, authorities said.

Another nine people were injured, some severely, in the spill at Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. In Longview. The cause remained unclear.

"At the moment we are not aware of any rescues that are yet to be made," Cowlitz Fire and Rescue Chief Scott Goldstein said during a Tuesday evening news conference, in which officials repeatedly referred to the situation as a recovery effort.

That effort would not resume until Wednesday morning, when emergency responders planned to work on stabilizing the collapsed tank, which still had more than 340,000 litres of a chemical brew known as "white liquor" inside, and then search for the missing, Goldstein said.

Some of the victims suffered burns or inhalation injuries, and the severity of the injuries ranged from minor to critical, authorities said. Among those injured was a responding firefighter.

Officials said they would only work during daylight hours because there was a risk of the tank leaking more caustic liquid and potentially collapsing.

"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.

Authorities said there was no threat to the public.

At a community vigil Tuesday night, dozens gathered at a local park to pray, light candles and embrace teary-eyed loved ones.

Crystal Moldenhauer, a Longview resident who served on the school board, said she has friends who work at the plant and remained unaccounted for. She described the stress of the day as people called and texted each other 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."

Two upset parents who said their two sons worked at the plant interjected at the end of the news conference, saying they hadn't been contacted. While officials including Gov. Bob Ferguson, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez addressed those gathered, no one from the company spoke at the news conference.

Some people waited at the company's visitor entrance on Tuesday, seeking information about loved ones who worked at the facility. They declined to comment to an Associated Press reporter. At a nearby union hall that was serving as a family assistance centre, three women shared a tearful embrace before heading inside. Others arriving at and leaving the building were also seen in tears.

The Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. Facility is a pulp and paper mill and liquid packaging plant along the Columbia River in Longview, a city of about 38,000 that has had a relationship with the paper and lumber industries since its founding by a Kansas City timber baron in the 1920s.

The facility, which employs about 1,000 people and dates to 1953, makes material for tissues, printing paper, cups, plates, cartons and other goods. It is located in an industrial zone shared by other timber, paper and chemical businesses, and it remains central to the community.

Officials initially reported that the tank had a capacity of 303,000 litres, but later revised that number to say it was holding about 3.4 million litres of the "white liquor." That's nearly enough to fill a typical Olympic-sized swimming pool one and a half times.

The liquid, which consists mainly of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide, is used with heat to break down wood to make kraft paper, a durable material used in packaging, shopping bags and other products.

It was too early to determine the cause of the implosion, Goldstein said.

Mike Gorsuch, battalion chief with the fire department, described it as a "mass casualty scene." He said first responders had decontaminated patients and taken them to hospitals in Longview and Vancouver, Wash.

About 40 firefighters and paramedics had responded, along with a regional hazmat team, Gorsuch said.

Following the tank's rupture, the white liquor spilled into a drainage ditch, said Brittny Goodsell, a state Ecology Department spokesperson. The department sent a team to evaluate the impacts, Goodsell said.

Nippon Dynawave, a subsidiary of Japan-based Nippon Paper Group, has been fined a total of $3,400 US 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.

In one inspection, the company was cited because face coverings were not worn by every employee when required. In another, the inspector determined that an employee was exposed to the risk of falling while working on a platform more than 1.2 metres off the ground without fall protection measures in place.

In the third incident, the department determined that equipment involved in a work-related accident — an amputated finger — was moved from its original position before the state's investigation into the accident was complete.

Online records from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration show safety complaints were filed against Nippon Dynawave on March 4 and May 6, but both cases remained open and details about the nature of the complaints were not available online. OSHA officials did not immediately respond to a request for additional information.

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