Crews continued a grim search Wednesday for nine suspected victims at a Washington state paper mill. Chemical tank ruptured One day earlier, one of the deadliest workplace accidents in the United States in years occurred.
Authorities said on Wednesday that the death toll could rise to 11, including missing people, after another injured person died.
Authorities said there was no hope of finding any more survivors after a storage tank failed Tuesday at Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. in Longview. The accident also injured eight other people, including a firefighter who was hospitalized and released.
If the 11 deaths are confirmed, it would be one of the deadliest industrial accidents in the United States in recent decades – joining a series of factory explosions that killed 16 people. tennessee dynamite plant Last fall; a fire and explosion killed 14 people Texas Fertilizer Plant 2013; and deepwater horizon In 2010, an oil drilling platform explosion killed 11 people.
A paper mill storage tank leaked more than 500,000 gallons (1.9 million liters) of “white liquor,” a highly damaging chemical mixture used to make paper, officials said Wednesday.
After delays in the search due to concerns that the tank could collapse further, crews determined that there was less liquid in the tank than initially thought and that the tank was stable enough to continue the search for the missing person. Fire officials said the search will be slow and methodical.
“We don’t know where these nine people are,” Cowlitz County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein said.
Authorities said the rupture did not affect the safety of Longview’s air or drinking water. Longview, a city of about 40,000 people along the Columbia River, has longstanding ties to the paper and lumber industries of Washington and Oregon. But they did say some contaminants reached the river and testing is ongoing. They also warned residents to stay away from ditches and embankments.
This is the second noteworthy problem with West Coast chemical tanks in as many days, following Evacuate thousands of Southern California residents The cause was a tank at an aerospace plant that overheated before those orders were lifted Tuesday night.
Goldstein said the paper mill water tank, which holds about 900,000 gallons (3.4 million liters), was more than half full when it ruptured. Made primarily from sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide, white liquor is used to break down wood with heat to create kraft paper, a durable material used in packaging, shopping bags and other products.
The massive factory employs about 1,000 people and produces materials for tissues, printing paper, cups, plates and cartons. It sits on the river and is adjacent to other lumber, paper and chemical industries.
Friend says paper mill workers are always there to help
The rupture occurred during a shift on Tuesday morning, causing the giant circular water tank to buckle on one side. The reason is unclear.
Authorities have not yet released the names of the dead or missing, but some have begun to reveal them.
Todd Cornwell said his friend Gilbert Bernal, an electrician at the plant, was the first confirmed death. He said they met through church and were in the same Bible study group.
“We actually had a group event last night and instead of doing a Bible study, we talked about him,” Cornwell said. “He was always willing to help with what needed to be done. When the local parochial school started flooding, he was one of the people there.”
Brian Williquette, a chemical supplier to a plant in the area, was at the plant Tuesday morning when he heard an alarm coming over the intercom and first wondered if it was a drill rig. He was able to escape safely and no damage was seen.
“This is unfathomable,” he said at a community vigil on Tuesday. “There’s not a single person who lives here who doesn’t know someone from the paper mill.”
Longview resident Crystal Moldenhauer said she has friends at the factory who are unaccounted for. She said people were calling and texting each other all day long trying to figure out what was going on.
“We’re all still waiting for answers,” she said. “Some families have been torn apart and we don’t know why.”
Authorities press for answers about rupture
Nippon Paper Group said in a statement on Wednesday that it “expresses its deepest condolences and heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims.”
Authorities said some of the injured suffered burns or inhalation injuries.
Brittny Goodsell, a spokesperson for the state Department of Ecology, said the tank ruptured and the fluid spilled into the drain.
“I know there are a lot of questions about how this happened, and I want to assure you that we will all continue to press to get answers to those questions,” U.S. Sen. Patty Murray said late Tuesday.
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Associated Press reporters Gene Johnson and Hallie Golden in Seattle, Kathy McCormack in Concord, N.H., Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, and Christopher L. Keller in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed.
