A massive chemical tank holding nearly a million gallons of a highly corrosive liquid imploded and collapsed 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 stabilising the collapsed tank, which still had about 90,000 gallons (more than 340,000 liters) of a chemical brew known as “white liquor” inside, and then search for the missing, Goldstein said.
The severity of the injuries ranged from minor to critical, with some suffering burns or inhalation injuries, 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 stabilise 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, US Sen. Patty Murray and US 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 earlier Tuesday, seeking information about loved ones. They declined to comment to an Associated Press reporter. At a nearby union hall that was serving as a family assistance center, three women shared a tearful embrace before heading inside. Others coming and going were also 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.
“The people who are responders here have friends and relatives that work on site,” Cowlitz Fire and Rescue Chief Scott Goldstein noted. “It is something that is impactful, and we have support networks to support the workers as well as the emergency responders.”
Officials initially reported that the tank had a capacity of 80,000 gallons (303,000 liters), but later revised that number to say it was holding about 900,000 gallons (3.4 million liters) 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.
