The implosion of a chemical tank at a Washington packaging plant early on Tuesday morning killed killed at least one person and left at least 10 others with injuries including chemical burns, authorities said.
The Longview fire department confirmed one fatality at Nippon Dynawave Packaging in a statement on their social media page. It also confirmed eight employees were injured and one firefighter. There are nine people who are employees of the plant who remain unaccounted for, officials said.
According to the fire department, the chemical incident occurred when a tank containing white liquor, a chemical solution used in the paper industry, ruptured. According to the state, the plant has a kraft pulp and paper mill and liquid packaging facility, and employs roughly 1,000 employees.
In a joint statement from the fire department, Nippon Dynawave Packaging and local agencies, officials said late on Tuesday morning that there were “fatalities related to the incident”.
“The scene remains in the recovery phase as emergency responders continue operations. No identifying information regarding injured or deceased individuals will be released at this time pending notification of family members,” authorities said.
Michael Gorsuch, battalion chief of the Longview fire department, told KGW 8 earlier on Tuesday that some injuries were critical and most were life-threatening.
Gorsuch said during the news conference that there were also people who remained unaccounted for.
There is “no immediate threat to the public”, the fire department said, but people should avoid the area.
The department said crews were continuing to work with Nippon employees “to mitigate the product and container involved”.
The tank, which was used to store caustic white liquor, was roughly 60% full at the time of the rupture, said fire chief, Scott Goldstein. White liquor is an alkaline solution used to break solid wood chips into pulp in the paper-making process and is made up mostly of sodium sulfide, sodium hydroxide and disodium carbonate. The chemical fallout does not pose a concern to neighboring cities, fire department officials said.
Nippon Dynawave Packaging and a county emergency management office did not immediately respond to inquiries from the Guardian.
The Washington incident comes after authorities in southern California ordered the evacuation of about 50,000 people in Garden Grove last week over fears a damaged chemical tank might explode. Orange county officials said on Monday that the threat of a major explosion had been eliminated and began lifting evacuation orders.
But officials have said there is still a threat to public safety and crews continue to work to mitigate the remaining risks.
