One dead, nine missing following implosion at Washington paper mill
May 26 (UPI) — Nine people remained missing Tuesday evening following an implosion at a paper manufacturing facility in Washington that killed one person and injured nine others, authorities said.
The incident at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging facility in Longview, Wash., occurred around 7:15 a.m. PDT. Officials told reporters during a Tuesday evening press conference that a 900,000-gallon tank containing a chemical used in the production of paper in what authorities described as an implosion.
Officials believe that the tank potentially contains up to 90,000 gallons of the chemical known as white liquor — a water solution of sodium sulfide and sodium hydroxide, according to the Environmental Protection Agency — posing a threat to responders and hampering recovery efforts.
“Crews are actively assessing the structural integrity of that tank and were working on plans to stabilize that tank before additional recovery operations can safely proceed,” Scott Goldstein, chief of the Cowlitz 2 Fire and Rescue, said.
Battalion Chief Matt Amos of the Longview Fire Department added that the recovery efforts would resume Wednesday morning if safe.
“Due to the instability of the site, some areas remain inaccessible at this time,” he said. “All impacted families have been notified.”
The officials said 10 people injured in the incident were transported to area hospitals, including one person who died. Of the nine injured, eight were employees of the plant and one was a firefighter who has since been released.
The severity of the injuries of those taken to the hospital was not made public, but Amos said several suffered “critical injuries.” Longview Fire earlier said several suffered chemical burns. The department also said the victims were transported to hospitals in Longview and Vancouver.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said she knows the public has many questions concerning about how the implosion occurred and that she will continue to apply pressure to get them answers.
“This community deserves that,” she said.
The Longview Fire Department said there was no immediate threat to the public.
Washington State Department of Ecology spokeswoman Anna Izenman told The Seattle Times that spill responders were on site evaluating any potential environmental impacts from the incident. She said white liquor cannot be collected and cleaned up in the same manner as oil; it can only “self-neutralize” with water over time.