Recovery operations were underway Wednesday at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging mill in Longview, Washington, after authorities said nine workers missing since Tuesday’s tank rupture are now presumed dead.
The revised toll would bring the number of fatalities linked to the accident to 11, making it potentially the deadliest industrial disaster in modern Washington state history, according to Governor Bob Ferguson.
Emergency officials confirmed that operations had shifted from rescue to recovery because of hazardous conditions surrounding the partially collapsed tank, which contained “white liquor,” a caustic chemical solution used in kraft pulping.
Authorities estimate that hundreds of thousands of gallons of chemical solution escaped during the rupture. Environmental monitoring remains underway after contamination entered parts of the Columbia River system, although officials said no impacts have been identified on local drinking water or air quality.
Seven employees and one firefighter were injured in the incident.
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board has opened an investigation into the cause of the accident at the mill operated by Nippon Paper Industries.
