A chemical implosion at a paper mill in the US has killed two people. Nine others are missing, presumed dead, according to NBC News reports. A further nine people were injured, including one firefighter attending the incident.
The implosion happened on 26 May at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging facility in Longview, around 130 miles south of Seattle. Nippon said in a joint statement with Longview’s fire department that the implosion ruptured ‘a tank containing white liquor’ – a highly corrosive mixture composed mostly of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide used to produce pulp from wood chips by extracting lignin and breaking down cellulose. Officials suggest that the tank was over half full, containing around 2000 cubic metres of white liquor, with Longview’s fire department estimating that 340m3 remained in the damaged container after the initial rupture but it was continuing to leak slowly.
The fire department confirmed that the incident contaminated the Columbia River, killing several fish, but that there is no danger to the Longview City water supply. The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board has begun investigating the cause of the incident.
The kraft pulp and paper mill and liquid packaging plant employs 1000 people, making around 280,000 tonnes of bleached paper and pulp per year, according to the state’s department of ecology.
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