Nippon Dynawave Tank Implosion Leaves 9 Missing as Crews Face 90,000 Gallons of White Liquor
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · May 27
Nippon Dynawave Tank Implosion Leaves 9 Missing as Crews Face 90,000 Gallons of White Liquor
12 articles · Updated · The Guardian · May 27
Nine workers remained missing Wednesday at Nippon Dynawave’s Longview, Washington, paper mill after a tank imploded; officials said there was no hope of finding more survivors after one death and nine injuries.
About 90,000 gallons of caustic “white liquor” still sat in the damaged tank, forcing crews to delay recovery until they can stabilize the structure and prevent another collapse or leak.
The tank had held roughly 900,000 gallons of the chemical mixture, and some spilled into a drainage ditch, though authorities said the city of about 40,000 faced no broader community threat.
Nippon Dynawave, a Nippon Paper Group unit employing about 1,000 people at the plant, had two recent safety complaints deemed unrelated and has been fined $3,400 for three violations since 2021.
The implosion was the second notable West Coast chemical tank failure in days, following a Southern California aerospace-plant incident that forced thousands of residents to evacuate.
Two West Coast chemical disasters in one week: A coincidence, or a sign of a larger industrial safety crisis?
Could new technology have predicted the tank's catastrophic failure and saved the lives of the nine missing workers?
As safety rules are debated, what is the hidden cost for communities living in the shadow of chemical plants?