(The Center Square) - Although the official death toll from Tuesday’s implosion involving a vat of chemical treatment product at the Nippon facility in Longview, Washington stands at one, The Center Square has learned that at least five others are known to be dead, with three more still missing and presumed dead.
The facility produces paper products like tissue, printing paper and more.
Senator Jeff Wilson, R-Longview, told The Center Square in a Tuesday evening interview that drone video of the collapsed tank and immediate surrounding area confirms six employees are deceased and three others yet to be located are presumed lost.
“This would be a worst-case scenario for this facility” said Wilson, who has lived very near the Nippon plant for most of his life and worked as a contractor at the site for decades.
“Sometimes it was seven days a week. The company that I own was a service contractor, and we took care of these things for them, like cleaning lines,” said Wilson.
He questioned how the incident could have happened.
“I have never seen a tank rupture that was holding any kind of liquor like this on its own. A forklift didn't drive into it, or a bulldozer didn't puncture it. So, how did this full tank end up leaning to one side, imploding or exploding, and then the release of the liquor?”
In paper making, "chemical liquor”, is a solution composed of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide. It is used to “cook” and break down wood chips to release the cellulose fibers needed for paper.
In addition to the lives lost, one firefighter and eight employees were taken to area hospitals with injuries including chemical burns.
Wilson said he would not speculate on a potential cause for the disaster.
“Give them some time to figure it out. We [need time] to get the answers. But again, I worked here for many, many years. This isn't business first. It still is about people.”
Wilson said his son works at the Nippon facility, but was not near the site of Tuesday’s implosion.
He shared that while he did contract work on the site for some 26 years, safety was always emphasized.
“We all took it seriously. We want to go home at night," he said. "This is the kind of town it is. We have a lot of systems in place, and I want to let the process work for the investigation.”
Wilson said he can’t imagine how the tank could rupture or fall over.
“It doesn't happen. And we do need to know why and prepare for that, but we're not out of the woods on this yet because of the site conditions," he said.
"I'm confident that community is not in any immediate harm, but we better start the healing process right away."
Hazardous Materials Team are on site as officials determine if they should attempt to empty the remaining 90,000 gallons of liquor in the tank, or stabilize the damaged container.
There is no immediate threat to the public, according to officials.
A few hundred hundred people attended a candlelight vigil Tuesday evening at R.A. Long Park to honor those killed, injured, and still unaccounted for.
"Everybody knows somebody who works there in this town," said Wilson. "We better figure out what caused this so it can never happen again."
The Center Square reached out to Washington Labor and Industries for details on active investigations or safety concerns at the Longview Nippon facility and received the following response via email.
"Before yesterday, L&I had two unrelated, ongoing inspections open at Nippon Dynawave," wrote Labor and Industries Public Affairs Manager Matt Ross. "One, we opened in March after an anonymous complaint about a valve on an aqua ammonia clarifier tank. It was not the same tank that imploded. The other opened in May after a complaint about a sinkhole created by a failed drain. Inspections can take up to six months, and the results will be published after those wrap up."
