Longview, WA chemical plant explosion kills 11, contaminates Columbia River

An implosion of a chemical reservoir at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging plant in Longview, Washington killed 11 people, with nine initially reported missing. The tank contained sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide used in pulp production. Fire officials confirmed the Columbia River was contaminated, though they said there were no immediate effects on air quality or the city’s drinking water. State Governor Bob Ferguson called the incident “the deadliest industrial disaster in modern history of the state.” The fire battalion chief said testing showed river contamination, and about a dozen carp died in the affected area. The plant is owned by Nippon Paper Industries, the second‑largest paper producer in Japan, which bought the facility from Weyerhaeuser in 2016 for $225 million. Search teams used drones and entered the collapsed structure to recover bodies and locate the missing.