White Liquor Tank Explosion Kills 11 At Longview Packaging Plant

Governor Bob Ferguson ordered flags to be at half-staff for a week in early June in honor of the 11 killed in the chemical tank explosion on the morning of May 26 at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging plant in Longview, Wash.

Eleven people were killed during a shift change when a chemical tank holding hundreds of thousands of gallons of white liquor imploded. White liquor is a strongly alkaline solution composed mainly of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide. It is used in the first stage of the kraft process in which lignin is separated from cellulose fiber for the production of pulp. The white liquor breaks the bonds between lignin and cellulose. It is called white liquor due to its white, opaque color.

U.S. Chemical Safety Board is investigating the incident. CSB Chairperson Steve Owens says, “The CSB is opening an investigation into this tragic incident to determine how it happened and what can be done to prevent something like this from happening again.”

It took days for responders to be able to safely locate the remaining workers, as officials said the situation was unstable. The sprawling effort involved diverting the spilled substance away from the community’s water supply. Because the chemicals and the tank were deemed unstable, responders couldn’t immediately access all the areas of the facility to search for victims.

Some of the spilled material contaminated the Columbia River and nearby ditches and dikes but had not affected community drinking water, officials said. There was also no airborne contamination, they said.

Nippon Dynawave Packaging is a U.S. subsidiary of Nippon Paper, formed in the 2016 acquisition of the Longview site from Weyerhaeuser. Nippon Dynawave Packaging produces 300,000 metric tons of premium paperboard. The facility also produces northern bleached softwood kraft, which is used for absorbent tissue products, wrapping paper and other items.

“We express our deepest condolences and offer our heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved families. We also sincerely apologize for the immense concern and inconvenience this has caused to the local community, our business partners, and all related parties,” Nippon Paper stated.

American Forest & Paper Assn. and Northwest Pulp & Paper Assn. issued a joint statement: “As representatives of the pulp and paper industry, we extend our deepest sympathies to everyone affected by the tragedy in Longview. In particular, our hearts go out to the families of those who were lost, as well as to those who were injured. We also share our support for all of the mill workers and AWPPW union members impacted by this tragedy. Safety is a core value across our industry. We support efforts to fully understand the root cause of this incident and identify measures that can help prevent similar tragedies in the future.”