Recovery crews have concluded their work at a paper packaging facility in Longview, Washington, after finding the nine workers who had been reported missing following a storage tank rupture earlier this week, bringing the total number of confirmed fatalities to 11.
Initial reports this week had confirmed two deaths after a storage tank holding a chemical referred to as "white liquor" imploded at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging plant. Search and recovery teams continued operations for several days, systematically moving through debris inside the facility and deploying drones to survey the surrounding property as they sought the missing workers.
The tank involved in the accident is reported to have held approximately 900,000 gallons of white liquor, a solution composed of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide that is used in the pulp manufacturing process. Officials have stated that contamination from the incident entered the nearby Columbia River.
Authorities also said that testing conducted after the rupture has not detected any adverse impacts on local air quality or on the Longview municipal drinking water supply. The cause of the tank rupture has not been released by investigators.
Nippon Dynawave Packaging is a wholly owned unit of Japan's Nippon Paper Industries, which is identified as the country's second-largest paper manufacturer by sales. Nippon Paper purchased the Longview facility from Weyerhaeuser in a transaction valued at $225 million and established Nippon Dynawave Packaging in 2016.
Local officials confirmed that recovery efforts at the site have now ended following the discovery of all missing workers. They said formal investigations into what caused the rupture will continue, but no further operational details or findings have been shared publicly at this time.
This incident is among the deadliest industrial accidents in Washington state in recent years, according to available accounts. Emergency crews, investigators, and company representatives have not provided additional facts beyond the information already disclosed about the chemical involved, the approximate volume in the tank, and the status of environmental testing.
As authorities proceed with investigative work, there are no new announcements about potential impacts to local services or additional environmental test results. Officials have emphasized that testing to date has found no measurable harm to air quality or the municipal water supply in Longview.