Six employees missing after a southwest Washington chemical tank blast have been recovered, authorities said Thursday afternoon.
This brings the confirmed death toll to eight, and leaves three victims still unaccounted for and presumed dead from the Tuesday tank failure at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging plant in Longview. Two were previously confirmed dead.
Recovery efforts, which are complex given the hazardous conditions, are ongoing for the other three victims.
“We are working diligently, and crews have from the beginning, to have the best outcome, to save as many as they possibly could and recover all of the victims as soon as possible,” Longview Fire Chief Brad Hannig said in a press conference.
As the deceased are recovered, they are decontaminated and taken to the county coroner’s office to be identified.
The recovered bodies appeared to be found in an area of the mill where workers would congregate to learn their assignments for the day, said Matt Amos, Longview Fire Department battalion chief.
The tank that erupted Tuesday morning held roughly 600,000 gallons of a corrosive substance known as white liquor, which is used in paper manufacturing. It can cause severe burns upon contact with skin.
It remains unclear how the tank failed. Federal chemical safety investigators have launched a probe to determine the circumstances that led up to the accident.
Some white liquor flowed into the nearby Columbia River and into a local diking system, state and local officials have said. It’s still uncertain exactly how much spilled outside the plant.
Water contaminated with the chemical is being flushed through Longview’s ditch system with water from the Cowlitz River and fire hydrants. The goal is to dilute it to the point where it can be released into the Columbia River.
A ditch with the contaminated water sits atop an aquifer and well field that Longview sources its drinking water from, said Brooks Stanfield, the federal on-scene coordinator from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The contaminated water was successfully diverted away from the wellhead protection area, said Longview Public Works Director Chris Collins.
Officials emphasize drinking water remains safe, but the longer the contaminated water remains in the system, the better chance it reaches the underlying aquifer.
“Our well is very protected from any sort of surface environmental concerns,” Collins said.
Authorities urged people to stay out of the city’s ditches and dikes for their safety. Dead fish were found in the ditch. Stanfield, though, stressed it is safe to swim and fish in the Columbia River. Air monitoring hasn’t found contamination, officials said.
Nippon Dynawave has shut down its mill, save for some critical infrastructure, said Brian Wood, the company’s director of support services. Employees not working are being paid.
Two people injured during the tank failure remain hospitalized at the Legacy Oregon Burn Center. Legacy Health, which has hospitals in the Portland and Vancouver area, has treated four patients total from the Longview tank failure. One died, while another was discharged.
Nine people injured in the blast were initially taken to PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center in Longview. Four were transferred Tuesday to other hospitals, four were discharged and one died, said PeaceHealth spokesperson Jim Murez.
Injuries ranged from mild to severe, with chemical skin burns as well as eye and airway irritation.
