A chemical accident at a paper mill in the northwest United States left two people dead and nine others missing and feared dead, officials said Wednesday.
A massive tank containing tens of thousands of gallons of a highly corrosive substance imploded Tuesday at a Longview, Wash., plant, sparking a massive operation.
Scott Goldstein of Cowlitz Fire Rescue No. 2 said two people were confirmed dead and efforts to rescue nine people who were still unaccounted for have been abandoned.
“As of this morning we have declared this incident to be transitioning from rescue to recovery,” he told a news conference.
Nine others were injured.
Goldstein said the accident at Japan’s Dynawave Packaging Co. occurred during an early morning shift when a 900,000-gallon storage tank containing a large amount of white liquor material ruptured.
White liquor is a strongly alkaline solution containing sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide used to break down wood chips and create pulp for papermaking.
Vehicles, buildings and equipment were damaged in the spill, and specialist firefighters are still working to determine the whereabouts of the missing people.
Photos from the scene showed that a huge tank had deformed and was tilting.
Goldstein said it is believed there is about 25,000 gallons left in the tank, but the condition is stable.
“We still have contingency plans and resources if we need to move to stabilizing and removing tanks,” he said.
Washington State Governor Bob Ferguson said the community of Longview, with a population of about 40,000, has been hard hit.
“We are preparing for this to be the deadliest industrial tragedy in modern Washington state history,” he said.
“When a tragedy of this magnitude occurs, the impact on individuals, families and communities is profound.”
Nippon Dynawave Packaging, a subsidiary of Nippon Paper Group, says on its website that it produces 8 billion single-serve containers annually and supplies them to customers in North America, Asia and around the world.
The incident in Washington came just days after tens of thousands of people were forced to leave their homes in Orange County, California, after a can of volatile chemicals began to overheat.
Firefighters worked to cool down 7,000 gallons of methyl methacrylate, which threatened to explode and emit toxic fumes in a densely populated area just a few miles from Disneyland.
All evacuation orders were lifted Tuesday after the immediate danger was declared to have passed.
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This article was generated from automated news agency feeds without modifications to the text.
