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industrial accident and incident

Crews recover 10th victim of Washington paper mill chemical tank collapse as two remain missing

Illustration accompanying article: Crews recover 10th victim of Washington paper mill chemical tank collapse
  • Authorities recovered a 10th victim's remains Friday from the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. mill in Longview, Washington, where a chemical storage tank collapse on May 26 killed 11 workers and injured others.
  • The 500,000-gallon tank held white liquor, a caustic mixture that causes severe burns on contact and lung damage if its vapors are inhaled; the rupture expelled a flood of the chemical powerful enough to blow out building walls and overturn pickup trucks.
  • Two workers remain unaccounted for as of Friday, with search crews still working at the site four days after the disaster.
  • Among the dead are brothers Tyler and Brad Covington, electrician Gilbert Bernal, and Kole Musgrove, a grandfather who helped his farmer neighbors cut hay during harvest season.
  • The Associated Press reported that the 11 confirmed dead include volunteers from Cowlitz County Search and Rescue, an active trivia champion, and two brothers who worked alongside each other at the plant.
 3 MIN READ

Chemical tank rupture kills 11 at Washington paper mill

Illustration accompanying article: Chemical tank rupture kills 11 at Washington paper mill
  • A chemical tank at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. in Longview, Washington, ruptured during a shift change Tuesday, releasing more than 500,000 gallons of caustic white liquor and killing at least 11 people.
  • Nine workers remain missing and are presumed dead; Cowlitz County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein said there is no hope of finding survivors, and the search resumed Wednesday after crews determined the tank was stable enough.
  • The spill reached a drainage ditch and entered the Columbia River; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported no observed effects on the river but advised residents to avoid ditches and dikes.
  • Eight people were injured, including a firefighter who was treated and released; the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board opened an investigation to determine the cause.
  • The death toll, if confirmed, would make this one of the deadliest U.S. industrial accidents in recent decades, comparable to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and the 2013 West Fertilizer plant blast.
 3 MIN READ
Illustration accompanying article: Southern Calif. officials lift final evacuation orders near damaged chemical tank