At Least 11 Dead after Implosion at Pulp and Paper Mill in Longview, WA
The Seattle Times
(TNS)
LONGVIEW — As many as 11 people are dead, and a spill has contaminated the Columbia River in what Gov. Bob Ferguson called the deadliest industrial tragedy in modern Washington history."
Two workers have been confirmed dead, while nine unaccounted workers are presumed dead after a major implosion Tuesday morning at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. facility, a pulp and paper mill in Longview. One person who was hospitalized Tuesday with injuries later died, bringing the known death toll to two.
On Wednesday afternoon, officials advised people to avoid the Columbia River along Industrial Way, north of its intersection with Washington Way, as it had been contaminated by white liquor, a caustic chemical used at the plant.
“Testing of water samples has confirmed contamination entered the Columbia River during the day yesterday, said Scott Goldstein, fire chief with Cowlitz 2 Rescue, at a Wednesday news conference. “Additional evaluations are underway to better understand the scope and extent of that environmental impact.”
No impacts to air quality have been detected, and there’s no contamination to Longview’s city water system, he added.
Brian Wood, director of support services with Nippon Dynawave, said the company’s monitoring showed two spikes of “high-PH material” into the Columbia River. The first came “at roughly the initial incident” at 7:15 a.m. Tuesday and another spike a few hours later.
The company reported the spikes to the Department of Ecology, as required, he said. Other high-PH material moved out via a storm drain and ultimately to a nearby diking district ditch. Some of the carp that lived in that ditch were killed by that high-PH material, he added.
“We are focused on our people; we are focused on helping our first responders finding and helping recover those people,” Wood said. He added that the company would “cooperate to the maximum extent we can with the investigation.”
As state and federal officials figure out the extent of contamination, they continue to search for the bodies of the nine unaccounted workers in the wreckage around what was a 900,000-gallon-capacity tank.
“Vehicles are damaged, buildings are damaged, mechanical equipment is damaged, collapsed and failed,” Goldstein said, adding later: “We do not know where all nine are. … We have searched the area — the area that is searchable.”
Some of those injured were later released from hospitals.
Almost 3 miles away from the implosion site, the union hall of the Association of Western Pulp and Paper opened its doors to those affected by the disaster. Surrounded by a police cordon that kept onlookers away, officers were seen Wednesday afternoon hauling in bottled water and snacks while a few people milled around. Nearby, a signboard outside a business read, “God Bless Our First Responders.”
The nine people injured Tuesday were initially taken to PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center in Longview, with injuries ranging from mild to severe chemical skin burns, and eye and airway irritation, according to PeaceHealth spokesperson Jim Murez. As of Wednesday afternoon, one patient had died, and five were discharged.
Murez said St. John remains fully operational and able to accept patients.
Legacy Health, a hospital system with locations in Southwest Washington and Oregon, confirmed Wednesday that at least some patients were transferred to its healthcare facilities, including its Oregon Burn Center in Portland.
‘Fear has reached new heights’
Built on Indigenous land and home to the headquarters of the Cowlitz Tribe, Longview’s history as a rough-and-tumble timber town stretches back more than a century.
The town was the scene of another large-scale disaster a century ago, when in 1923 the Allen Street Bridge collapsed with at least 20 vehicles on it, killing at least 17, according to the Longview Daily News.
When Weyerhaeuser built its sawmill there in the late 1920s, it was recognized as the world's largest. A pulp mill followed in the early 1930s, and in 1942, during World War II, the port of Longview became the main supply base for sending Lend-Lease equipment to Russia, according to a historical plaque outside one of the local union halls.
But that prosperity has long been in decline.
“Folks here have watched mill after mill close across the state, always wondering if their plant or job is next,” said U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez at the news conference. “And today that fear has reached new heights, as people wonder if this accident is the last straw for a viable mill and a first step toward closures.”
Federal investigators arrive at mill
On Wednesday, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board sent a team of investigators to the mill. The independent federal agency looks into the root causes of major chemical incidents.
Moving quickly is key with these types of investigations, said Johnnie Banks, a former CSB investigator who retired in 2017 after over a decade with the agency. The board scrutinizes physical evidence, interviews workers and reviews documents from environmental and labor regulators. Investigators search for warning signs that business leaders or government officials may have overlooked.
The agency considers aspects like factory maintenance, the age and condition of equipment and production demands, Banks said.
“I was always struck by the fact that there were always warnings beforehand,” said Banks, who has investigated several major chemical disasters, including the massive 2013 explosion that killed 15 people at a fertilizer storage facility in West, Texas.
Depending on the scale and complexity, an investigation can take about a year, sometimes longer, Banks said. Usually, the cause of a catastrophic incident isn’t simple. “There are often 20 different factors that happen to line up at a factory on a given day.”
Seattle Times staff reporters Paige Cornwell, Lulu Ramadan and Kai Uyehara contributed to this report.
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