11 presumed dead as recovery efforts resume in Washington chemical tank rupture that sent contamination into Columbia River
By Emma Tucker, Alisha Ebrahimji, Hanna Park, Holly Yan, Nick Watt, CNN
(CNN) — Search crews are expected to navigate treacherous circumstances as they continue efforts to recover nine people, who are presumed dead, a day after a deadly chemical tank rupture at a paper plant in Washington state.
At least two were confirmed dead and another eight people were injured after a 900,000-gallon tank containing hazardous chemicals ruptured Tuesday morning at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. facility in Longview. Officials said spillage from the tank sent contamination into the Columbia River, considered the lifeblood of the Pacific Northwest.
Officials originally said about 90,000 gallons of material could still be inside the damaged tank, but a subsequent inspection determined the amount to be roughly 25,000 gallons. That remaining liquid is believed to be on the opposite side of the tank from the leak, which is releasing material at a slower rate than on Tuesday, officials said.
The tank contained a mixture called white liquor, which is used in paper-making processes and can cause second- and third-degree burns when it comes into contact with skin. Inhaling concentrated vapor around the liquid can also be dangerous, though it primarily acts as an irritant when in the air.
The tank has now been deemed stable and concerns about it failing have been alleviated, allowing responders to proceed with planning to remove its contents and recovery efforts, Cowlitz County fire official Scott Goldstein said Wednesday.
Rescue efforts have officially transitioned into recovery efforts, which were halted Tuesday evening due to stability concerns, and will be “slow, methodical and deliberate,” Longview Fire Battalion Chief Matt Amos said. Once the missing individuals are recovered, they’ll be transported to the coroner’s office, officials said.
Gilbert Bernal, a beloved father and grandfather, died as a result of Tuesday’s chemical tank rupture, his daughter Geovana Bernal-Ferguson told CNN on Wednesday.
At a hospital Tuesday, Bernal-Ferguson’s brother and mother confirmed through photos that a deceased man there was Bernal, she said. The family is still waiting for official confirmation from the coroner. Officials have not released any names of those killed, injured or missing in Tuesday’s incident.
Details about how the rupture happened weren’t immediately available. CNN has sought comment from Nippon Dynawave Packaging about the incident.
The incident unfolded around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. facility, which produces pulp used to make paper products and paperboard for items like cartons and cups. The facility is in Longview, about 50 miles north of Portland, Oregon, and about 130 miles south of Seattle.
The injured include seven employees and one firefighter, who was treated and released, fire officials said Tuesday. An individual who was transported from the scene Tuesday later died of their injuries.
The rupture is the latest in a series of incidents at industrial facilities, mills and plants in recent months – some of which have been deadly. In Southern California this past week, officials raced to prevent an overheating chemical tank from exploding, prompting tens of thousands of residents to evacuate. A crack in the tank eased pressure in the tank, eliminating the risk of a catastrophic blast.
In April, a chemical leak involving nitric acid and another substance at a West Virginia plant killed two people and injured more than a dozen others, The Associated Press reported.
Last October, more than 24,000 pounds of explosives detonated at a Tennessee explosives plant, killing 16 employees. The blast was so powerful, it registered as a 1.6 magnitude earthquake.
Two months before that, an explosion at a US Steel plant in Pennsylvania killed two workers and injured more than 10 others, one of whom was trapped in rubble, the AP reported.
Contamination entered Columbia River
Contamination from the rupture entered the largest river in the Pacific Northwest, the Columbia River, but further evaluations will determine the “scope and extent of that environmental impact,” Goldstein said Wednesday. There are no negative health impacts to the city, its air quality or its drinking water system, he continued.
While the air quality and water drinking system have not been impacted, acidity levels in water samples, or pH, confirmed contamination entered the river from the site on Tuesday, said Goldstein.
About 500,000 gallons of liquid were released and mixed with water from a ruptured on-site fire main, Goldstein said. Officials saw an initial increase in the pH level in a few nearby waterways and shut down dike system pumps in those areas “to keep it contained there,” Goldstein said.
Officials are developing a plan to “treat and to address the concerns of that remaining water in the ditches.”
An environmental group comprised of the state’s ecology department, Environmental Protection Agency, the Diking District and Public Works, as well as other agencies, has been created to evaluate and address the contamination, Goldstein said. The Coast Guard is working with that team, he added.
Goldstein urged residents to avoid dikes and ditches between Washington Way and Prudential Boulevard.
The state’s Department of Ecology teams on site to monitor air and water quality, spokesperson Brittny Goodsell said Tuesday.
“We currently don’t have concerns for public health outside of the scene at this time,” she said.
State officials will be at the site “to do everything we can to help the situation,” Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said Tuesday.
The state has deployed 46 members of its national guard, which includes 10 civil support team members working with the Department of Ecology to support air monitoring, he added.
A community in grief
Grief and anxiety now permeate Longview, a tight-knit city of about 40,000 people on the banks of the Columbia River.
Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. employs about 1,000 people at its pulp-and-paper mill and packaging plant. The facility treats its wastewater and sends it to the Columbia River, according to Washington’s Department of Ecology.
“The people who are responders here have friends and relatives that work on site,” Goldstein said Tuesday.
Community members gathered at a vigil Tuesday evening to honor the victim killed and the employees still missing.
Longview resident Crystal Moldenhauer told the AP she has friends who work at the plant who remained unaccounted for.
“We’re all still waiting for answers,” she told the AP. “There’s families that have been torn apart, and we don’t know why.”
PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center initially received nine patients from the Longview facility, including one person who died and four others who were transferred to other hospitals, the medical center said.
Injuries ranged from mild to severe, and included chemical skin burns as well as eye and airway irritation, the medical center said.
Three patients were later discharged from PeaceHealth St. John, and one patient remained in fair condition, spokesperson Jim Murez said.
Unrelated open inspections and new investigations
The site is the subject of two unrelated, ongoing inspections that started before the rupture and are unrelated to the event, according to the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries.
One was opened in March after the department received an anonymous complaint about concerns “about a valve on an aqua ammonia clarifier tank,” which is not the same tank that ruptured, according to the agency.
The other was opened in May after a complaint about a sinkhole created by a failed drain, the agency said.
Joel Sacks, director of the state’s department of labor and industries, said Wednesday he couldn’t comment on the open inspections until they are concluded. The agency will be conducting an investigation into the incident on Tuesday, he added.
State officials cited the site for violations after three other inspections in the last five years that were not related to “chemical process or storage safety” but had to do with fall protection and failure to wear face coverings, the agency said.
One of the violations involved the employer not ensuring “employees were provided a workplace free from recognized hazards causing, or are likely to cause, serious injury or death,” the inspection report said.
An investigation into the chemical tank rupture also has been launched by the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board to determine its cause and what could be done to prevent a similar tragedy in the future. A team of investigators is arriving at the site Wednesday, the agency said.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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CNN’s Andi Babineau contributed to this report.
