Thread: Chemicals from Longview mill blast reached Columbia River

Chemicals from Longview mill blast reached Columbia River, officials say

https://www.oregonlive.com/nation/20...cials-say.html

• Updated: May. 30, 2026, 12:24 p.m.
• |Published: May. 27, 2026, 3:23 p.m.

Officials say that caustic chemicals from the tank failure at Nippon Dynawave Packaging reached the Columbia River through storm drains and ditches. Industrial facilities in Longview, Wash., are seen across the Columbia River from Rainier, Ore., on April 29, 2026. Mark Graves/The Oregonian

By

• Kristine de Leon | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Contamination from the catastrophic chemical tank failure at a southwest Washington pulp and paper mill has flowed into the Columbia River, officials confirmed Wednesday, opening a troubling new chapter in what could become the region’s deadliest industrial accident in modern history.

As crews continued recovery operations Wednesday for nine missing workers, state and federal agencies were assessing the environmental fallout from Tuesday’s explosion and chemical release at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Company mill in Longview. Authorities say the accident released more than half a million gallons of “white liquor,” a highly caustic industrial chemical used in paper production.

The spill happened after a massive storage tank failed during a morning shift change, sending an estimated 550,000 to 570,000 gallons of chemical slurry pouring through the mill complex and into nearby drainage systems, said Scott Goldstein, chief of the Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue district.

“Testing of water samples has confirmed contamination entered the Columbia River during the day yesterday,” Goldstein said. He added that environmental crews are now “working to classify or quantify that” and determine the extent of the damage.

The confirmation marks a significant development in the investigation and raises questions about the spill’s impact on fish, wetlands and the Northwest’s largest river system.

White liquor is a mix of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide used to break down wood chips in the kraft pulping process. It can cause severe chemical burns on contact, and in waterways can harm or kill aquatic life.

Brian Wood, director of support services for Nippon Dynawave Packaging, said some contaminated runoff flowed through the mill’s storm drains and diking ditches before eventually reaching the river. He said the mill’s own monitoring system detected spikes in pH levels — reflecting the alkaline chemical’s release — shortly after the blast.

“Our continuous monitoring for pH on our outfalls that go to the Columbia River showed spikes of high pH material,” Wood said.

He added that “approximately two or three hours later, there were two spikes of high pH material that went from our plant site to the Columbia River,” information the company reported to the environmental state regulators under its permit requirements.

Another stream of contaminated water spread into nearby ditches connected to the mill property. Wood said the spilled chemical mixed with water from broken fire lines and ran into the mill’s storm drains. From there, it flowed into a roadside ditch along State Route 432 and then into the larger drainage ditches managed by the local diking district.

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said crews have already recovered about a dozen dead carp from ditches connected to the mill property, an early sign of the spill’s ecological impact.

Despite the contamination, officials said Wednesday that testing has not found any problems with Longview’s air or drinking water.

Goldstein said there have been “no identified negative health impacts to the city, to the surrounding air quality or the city of Longview’s drinking water system.”

Officials said the U.S. Coast Guard, federal Environmental Protection Agency and Washington Department of Ecology will continue to sample water and monitor the Columbia River while crews will work to contain contaminated runoff in nearby industrial ditches and drainage channels.


MORE BY KRISTINE DE LEON
Longview crews closer to reaching disaster epicenter, tests show no public health risksMay. 30, 2026, 4:21 p.m.

They warned people to stay away from the dikes and ditches around the mill, where elevated pH levels in the water continue to pose concerns.

Goldstein said people should steer clear of the diking network north of Industrial Way, from Washington Way to Prudential Boulevard and toward Memorial Park Drive, where contaminated water still sits in the system.

Meanwhile, the human toll of the disaster continues to grow. Two people have died, seven workers are still hospitalized, and nine are still missing inside the damaged mill complex.


Kristine de Leon

Kristine de Leon is a reporter for The Oregonian/OregonLive focusing on consumer health, the business of health care and data enterprise stories. She aims to create meaningful dialogue about policies and...more

[EMAIL="kdeleon@oregonian.com"]

kdeleon@oregonian.com

Disasters & Accidents

https://www.klcc.org/disasters-accid...-mill-disaster

Coroner: Remains of final victims recovered from Longview paper mill disaster

Oregon Public Broadcasting | By Courtney Sherwood,
Joni Auden Land

Published May 31, 2026 at 8:15 AM PDT

Eli Imadali /OPB

The Washington state flag, American flag and Nippon Dynawave flags fly at half-staff while flowers mark a makeshift memorial on old mill equipment in front of Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. for the victims of the May 26 chemical disaster, in Longview, Wash., on May 29, 2026.

The last bodies that remained inside a Longview paper mill after a deadly chemical tank rupture have been recovered, clearing the way for a more intensive investigation into what caused the disaster that killed 11 people, authorities said Saturday.

“This is a horrific tragedy that has profoundly impacted our community,” Cowlitz County Coroner Dana Tucker said at a briefing where she shared the names of the deceased. Some family members gathered near the scene wept quietly as Tucker read the names of those killed in the deadliest workplace disaster in Washington state in more than a century.

“These were fathers, sons, mentors and community members, who helped build this facility and this community every single day,” Kurt Stich, deputy chief of Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue said with tears in his voice as he described the challenging search at the Southwest Washington mill.

The victims included two brothers, several grandfathers and a man expecting his third child. The bodies of nine workers were recovered from inside the mill over several days and two others were pronounced dead at area hospitals.

Officials released the names of the 11 people who died in the Nippon Dynawave mill disaster

Gilbert Bernal - 52
Tyler Covington - 29
Bradley Covington - 27
Robert Wilson - 48
Dale Miller - 54
Jared Ammons -35
Braydon Finkas -38
Clinton Doran -26
John Forsberg -51
Norman Barlow -58
Dillon Miller - age not available

Brooke Iverson, the daughter of victim Norman Barlow, drove to Longview from Yelm, Washington, to hear the official announcement. Barlow was the last of the workers inside the mill to be removed and identified, she said.

“He raised me as a single dad. He was there. He made it look effortless. He was strong. He was the best guy out there. He was a god in these trades. He was selfless,” she told OPB after his death was announced.

A lesson she said she will carry on from her father: “Don’t focus on working all the time. Put your family first. My dad always regretted not doing that.”

As the community mourns, local and state officials have been working to contain the environmental damage outside the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co.

Dead fish, tadpoles and other small wildlife have died from chemical exposure, and crews continue to flush water through a network of ditches to dilute contamination.

The investigation into the cause of the rupture can intensify now that all of the victims have been removed from the paper mill, authorities said. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board arrived on site Wednesday, and pressure is mounting on local and federal officials for answers on what went wrong.

For many residents in Longview, one of the biggest questions is the fate of the Nippon Dynawave facility, which has been the site of a mill since a year after Longview was first incorporated a century ago.

Paper mills are part of the heart of Longview, said Rose Scattergood, who helped organize a community barbecue Saturday to raise funds for the families of the dead.

“My main worry is, is this gonna shut down the mills, you know, for permanently or indefinitely? And then, you know, how do we turn that around? What do we do next?”

Those answers may not come until a federal investigation identifies the cause of the tank rupture.

Recovery workers were careful to preserve evidence as they sought to find and remove nine victims who were trapped inside the paper mill after Tuesday’s chemical release, Stich said. Two others were declared dead at hospitals after the blast.

“Our crews were working in indoor areas that were littered with desks and large cabinets and debris from this event,” he said. “It was physically laborious work. It was very difficult.”

Stich said crews also used drones to fly over the area to make sure they weren’t missing anything before declaring the recovery operation complete.

“This work has been intense. It’s been methodical, and incredibly difficult for everyone that’s been involved.”




Courtney Sherwood

Joni Auden Land

See stories by Joni Auden Land

‘Something dramatically wrong’: Questions but few answers after Longview mill tragedy

https://www.ijpr.org/disasters-and-accidents/2026-05-31/something-dramatically-wrong-questions-but-few-answers-after-longview-mill-tragedy

Oregon Public Broadcasting | By Troy Brynelson, Conrad Wilson, Lauren Dake

Published May 31, 2026 at 7:00 AM PDT

Eli Imadali /OPB

Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. sits on the Columbia River, in Longview, Wash., on May 27, 2026. Contamination entered the river following the plant’s chemical disaster, but state officials quickly worked to control further contamination.

As crews continue to work through hazardous conditions, company and government officials say it’s too early to know what might have caused the implosion in Longview, Wash. that killed 11 people.

It’s been less than a week since the rupture of a massive tank spilled hundreds of thousands of gallons of caustic chemical at a Longview, Washington, paper mill. The remains of the last victims of Tuesday’s workplace disaster were just removed from the mill this weekend.

Yet pressure is steadily mounting for answers from the company and government officials, even as they caution an investigation will take time. Investigators from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board arrived on site Wednesday.

“We are cooperating fully with the agencies that have the responsibility to the public to do that analysis,” said Brian Wood, director of support services for Nippon Dynawave and a city councilor in nearby Kelso. “It would be very premature to try to estimate when that might be available. We are very much in early days.”

Family members of some of the 11 victims in this industrial pocket of Southwest Washington are calling for answers and publicly questioning the safety culture at the pulp mill, and at least two families say they have retained attorneys. Wood has defended the company’s safety record during press conferences.

Eli Imadali /OPB

People hold pictures of their family members still unaccounted for during a vigil for the victims of the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. chemical implosion at R.A. Long Park in Longview, Wash., on May 26, 2026.

Josh Estes, head of the local chapter of the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers union, said he understands there is a need for answers and accountability.

“We are going to fight to get those answers,” he said.

OPB spoke to seven chemical safety experts and former investigators about what officials would look for to determine how the rupture happened and what could have prevented it.

Those experts said Washington state’s deadliest workplace incident in nearly a century likely resulted from a complex mix of factors — the tank itself, the chemical involved, potential issues with vents — combined with a terrible coincidence of timing.
The implosion happened at about 7:15 a.m., during a shift change that brought more workers on site and around a break room that was located next to the massive tank of deadly chemicals.

“Sometimes we might find things that have been overlooked,” said Johnnie Banks, who was a federal chemical investigator for more than a decade. “It’s usually not one thing overlooked, but multiple things happening in concert on a given day and a given time when things go bad.”

Adeline Witherspoon /Washington National Guard Via AP

Soldiers and airmen from the Washington National Guard's 10th Homeland Response Force offer support to first responders following an rupture of a chemical tank at Nippon Dynawave pulp and paper mill on Thursday, May 28, 2026, in Longview, WA.

‘Nasty material’
The pulp mill along the Columbia River in Longview has been using a chemical stew to cook wood chips for more than 70 years. The process itself is even older.

Known as kraft pulping, it disintegrates the wood into a strong cellulose material that can be used to make paper or containers like milk cartons.

“You have probably cooked meat or something in a pressure cooker, right? Well, it’s the same,” said Julia Shamshina, a professor at Texas Tech with the Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute in Lubbock. “You put wood into the pressure cooker, you put in a bunch of chemicals in the pressure cooker, you close it, you heat it up and you cook under the pressure.”

The chips are heated with a cocktail of sodium hydroxide, or lye, and sodium sulfide to make the caustic chemical known as “white liquor.”

“White liquor is a nasty material,” said Stephen Kmiotek, professor of chemical engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. “Highly, highly corrosive, pH of 14, very subject to chemical burns.”

There are about 4,500 active pulp and paper mills across the world, according to a research paper Shamshina co-authored. The majority of them are located in Asia, with only about 128 paper mills still operating in the United States.

Reported incidents involving “white liquor” are rare. Before Tuesday, there had been only eight spills in the past 10 years across the country, according to an analysis of National Response Center data.

One of them was also at Nippon Dynawave in 2021, when 3,000 gallons of it leaked from an open valve. None of those incidents resulted in injuries.

Experts say that pulp and paper-making processes have changed little in the past 100 years, including the fact that they’re extraordinarily dangerous.

Collapsed like a water bottle?
Kmiotek, who spent decades as a chemical engineer and has closely tracked the Longview disaster, said photos of the tank suggest it collapsed inward instead of exploding and propelling outward. He said a dramatic change in pressure could cause a catastrophic implosion.

It’s possible that a relief valve on the top of the 900,000-gallon tank could have become plugged, he said, causing the tank to collapse in on itself.

“Picture a plastic water bottle, those real thin-walled plastic water bottles and you put your mouth over it and start drinking, but you have a good seal on that opening,” Kmiotek said. “And so it collapsed just like that water bottle.”

Unlike industrial tank explosions, which he said “unfortunately are quite common,” Kmiotek could count on one hand the number of tank implosions he’s seen in 40 years of practice.

Brandon Swanson /OPB

Aerial views of the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. in Longview, Wash., showing the scene of a major chemical tank rupture at a Southwest Washington paper mill, May 26, 2026.

“If I had to guess, there was some blockage,” Kmiotek explained. He said he’s talked to a half dozen colleagues who have all come to the same conclusion. “There was no way for air or something else to backfill that volume as they were sucking material out of it.”

Investigators will examine the construction of the tank for cracks or corrosion or venting problems, Banks, the former chemical investigator, said. They will comb through maintenance records to find potential equipment errors. They will interview employees, managers and engineers to determine causation and issue recommendations on how to prevent future accidents.

“There was something dramatically wrong with the tank that caused it to rupture or collapse,” John Bresland, former chair of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, the agency investigating the Longview incident, told OPB.

The Longview plant requires routine inspections of its tanks. Since 1998, it has kept a plan on file with the Department of Ecology. The company conducts routine testing of its systems and files reports with the agency.

The most recent version of the plan, updated in June 2025, states that liquor storage tanks “are scheduled for visual external inspection annually.” Additional testing, such as internal inspections, “are scheduled for some tanks where deemed appropriate based on individual tank design and operating characteristics.”

Marissa Baker, a professor with the University of Washington’s Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, said all workplace injuries should be considered preventable, and it’s the responsibility of companies to protect their workers.

“You’re dealing with massive amounts of chemicals,” she said. “What happens if it falls? What happens if it explodes? They have probably thought through quite a bit what would happen if it explodes, if the heat or the pressure. Those are things that are monitored. Those are things that are checked.”

Baker said it was notable that Nippon Dynawave had three inspections in five years and two open inspections at the time of the tank rupture. One involved a valve on an aqua-ammonia clarifier tank. The other was opened in May after a complaint about a sinkhole, which was created by a failed drain.

Nippon Dynawave has sustained a few fines in the past five years from the Washington Department of Labor and Industries. Investigators found employees not wearing face coverings during the COVID-19 pandemic in one case and also found a platform higher than four feet that lacked guardrails.

A worker also lost a finger last year. Investigators cited Nippon Dynawave for failing to keep equipment in place until an inspector could arrive to investigate.

Combined, Nippon has incurred $3,400 in fines from workplace investigators since 2021.

Eli Imadali /OPB

Nippon Dynawave Packaging support services director Brian Wood speaks during a press conference at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co., where a chemical disaster occurred May 26 at the Longview, Wash., plant for kraft pulp, paper mill and liquid packaging on May 27, 2026. Washington Gov. Ferguson called it the “deadliest industrial tragedy in modern Washington state history.”

“If you keep having problems such that you’re on L&I’s radar or you have problems such that your employees are reporting you, there’s probably something that can change to create a better health and safety culture on that site,” Baker said.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, Wood defended Nippon Dynawave’s safety.

“We work in a highly hazardous atmosphere and a highly hazardous industry,” Wood said. “We approach it with the utmost care in everything that we do. I’ll let the facts speak for themselves.”

Kmiotek said while it is the company’s responsibility to take reasonable precautions to keep workers safe, they can’t account for everything that might go wrong.

“At the end of the day, there’s going to be some bad things that happen,” he said.

‘Business as usual — at the worst time’
For the Longview mill, Jeff Wilson was one of those precautions.

He serviced the mill’s boilers and tanks under its previous owner, Weyerhaeuser, before he sold his hazardous materials clean-up firm Cowlitz Clean Sweep in 2016. His home’s backyard is sculpted by one of the many ditches that sponged up Tuesday’s white liquor runoff.

Eli Imadali /OPB

Washington State Sen. Jeff Wilson poses for a portrait at his Longview, Wash., home three days after the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. chemical disaster in Longview, Wash., on May 29, 2026. Wilson used to contract with Nippon Dynawave and his son currently works there.

Wilson has stood many times in the courtyard where the tank spilled. He has even crawled inside the tank itself.

“This tank doesn’t seem anything other than normal,” he said, other than its immense size. It perches over a courtyard that includes a vast humming boiler that makes the mill itself feel alive. “Steam, the sound, the boiler working — it’s all part of the mill atmosphere.”

Wilson is now a state Senator representing Longview and a commissioner at the Port. Sitting on his back patio, the 66-year-old slumped his shoulders while considering how many things went wrong to cause the calamity just two miles south of his home.

As a hazmat contractor, Wilson responded to an array of emergency calls at the now Nippon-owned mill. He had helped clean up white liquor in the past, as well as the similarly dangerous green liquor and black liquor chemicals. Most often, however, he cleaned up less-toxic pulp spills.

Those hazards often stemmed from either technology failures or human error, he said. He defended the mill’s safety protocols and suspected the cause of the rupture is linked to failed equipment.

“It inherently comes with hazards and people are not novices,” Wilson said.

In the same breath as he defended Nippon’s safety protocols, Wilson said human error can be deadly in industrial work. Years ago, at the Nippon site, Wilson witnessed a contractor driving a snorkel lift, operating it via controls in a bucket several feet in the air. The contractor hit a gas line that quickly caught fire, Wilson said. It burned so hot it melted the bucket and killed the contractor.

A detail that stuck out to Wilson about Tuesday’s tank rupture is the unfortunate timing that it happened during a shift change. The corrosive wave knocked down multiple walls. A break room was caught in the disaster.

“It was business as usual — at the worst time,” he said. “That was probably the biggest quantity of people that would be there at any one time because of the shifting.”

OPB’s Joni Auden Land and Tony Schick contributed reporting.


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Troy Brynelson
Troy Brynelson reports on Southwest Washington for Oregon Public Broadcasting, a JPR news partner. His reporting comes to JPR from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.

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Conrad Wilson
Conrad Wilson is a reporter and producer covering criminal justice and legal affairs for Oregon Public Broadcasting, a JPR news partner. His reporting comes to JPR through the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.

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Lauren Dake
Lauren Dake is a politics and policy reporter for Oregon Public Broadcasting, a JPR news partner. Her reporting comes to JPR through the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.

See stories by Lauren Dake