Water samples taken overnight confirmed chemicals leaked into the river when a 900,000-gallon tank containing corrosive “white liquor” ruptured.
LONGVIEW, Wash. — Columbia River contaminated by chemicals from U.S. Tank rupture Officials confirmed Wednesday that the plant is located at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging facility in Longview. The extent of the contamination is unknown.
Water samples collected overnight confirmed that chemicals leaked into the river when a 900,000-gallon “white liquor” tank ruptured, containing an estimated 25,000 gallons of the highly corrosive solution, officials said at a news conference Wednesday. Officials estimate the tank was at about 60% capacity at the time of the explosion.
This highly alkaline chemical is used to dissolve wood chips during the papermaking process.
“Additional assessments are underway to better understand the scope and extent of the environmental impacts,” Cowlitz Fire and Rescue Chief Scott Goldstein said.
Goldstein said no health effects have been found on air quality or Longview’s drinking water system. Officials plan to continue monitoring air and water quality.
The public has been directed to stay away from the levee and ditch between Washington Way and Prudential Boulevard due to contaminated sewage discharge from the Nippon Dynawave storm drain. Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said about a dozen carp were found dead in the waterways.
Two people are confirmed death Nippon Dynawave Packaging injured several people early Tuesday morning at a kraft pulp and paper mill along the Columbia River on Industrial Boulevard in Longview. Nine people are still missing and presumed dead.
Officials said recovery efforts will continue Wednesday. Ferguson said the incident may be one of the “deadliest industrial tragedies in modern Washington state history.”
