Incident overview
Emergency crews in Washington state said testing has confirmed that contamination from a ruptured chemical storage tank at a Nippon Dynawave Packaging facility entered the Columbia River. The tank imploded and ruptured on Tuesday, an event that has so far claimed at least two lives. Authorities reported nine additional people remain unrecovered.
Search and recovery
Officials said recovery operations transitioned from rescue to recovery earlier on Wednesday after searchable portions of the site were examined. Cowlitz 2 Fire Chief Scott Goldstein said it remains unclear where the nine missing people are and that teams had searched all areas that were accessible. Longview Fire Department Battalion Chief Matt Amos described the recovery environment as "extremely hazardous," and warned that efforts would be slow.
Scale and official response
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson said the magnitude of the incident was profound, calling it "certainly the deadliest industrial tragedy in modern state history" and underscoring the broad impacts of an event of that scale and scope. Officials indicated they will seek additional capabilities to support recovery operations.
Chemical release and environmental monitoring
Authorities detailed that the breached tank contained "white liquor," a chemical solution of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide used in the production of paper pulp. Goldstein estimated that roughly 550,000 to 570,000 gallons left the tank, while some material remains inside and continues to leak slowly.
"Testing of water samples has confirmed contamination entered the Columbia River during the day yesterday," Goldstein said, adding that additional evaluations are underway to better understand the scope and extent of the environmental impact. Officials also stated that, at this time, there continue to be no identified negative health impacts to the surrounding air quality or the city of Longview's drinking water system.
Local advisories and observed effects
Authorities advised the public to avoid parts of the area around the facility. Local officials reported that about a dozen carp had died in the vicinity, an observation linked to the contamination. Officials emphasized the hazardous nature of the site and the need for caution around affected zones.
Ownership and corporate background
Nippon Paper Industries, listed in Japan under the ticker 3863.T and identified as that country’s second-largest paper manufacturer by sales, acquired the Longview plant from Seattle-based timber company Weyerhaeuser for $225 million. The purchaser established the wholly owned subsidiary Nippon Dynawave Packaging in 2016.
Next steps
Officials said additional testing and evaluations are in progress to determine the full environmental footprint of the release, and they signaled plans to bring in further capabilities to support recovery. Given the described conditions, authorities emphasized the need for a deliberate, cautious recovery effort.