By Ismail Shakil and Daphne Psaledakis
May 27 (Reuters) – Testing confirmed that contamination entered the Columbia River after a chemical tank imploded and ruptured at a Nippon Dynawave Packaging facility in the U.S. state of Washington on Tuesday that killed at least two people, fire department officials said on Wednesday.
Nine people remain unrecovered following the incident, officials told reporters on Wednesday, adding that recovery efforts began earlier on Wednesday and would be slow. The recovery environment remains “extremely hazardous,” Longview Fire Department Battalion Chief Matt Amos said.
“The scale and scope of the tragedy … this is certainly to be the deadliest industrial tragedy in modern state history. You know, anytime you’re talking about something of that scale and scope, the impacts are profound,” Washington Governor Bob Ferguson said.
It was unclear where the nine missing people were, Cowlitz 2 Fire Chief Scott Goldstein said, adding that they had searched the area that was searchable. “As of this morning, we declared this incident a transition from rescue to recovery.”
The tank contained “white liquor,” a chemical solution of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide used in making paper pulp.
Goldstein said it was fair to say roughly 550,000-570,000 gallons left the tank, while some material remains in the tank and is continuing to slowly leak.
Officials will seek additional capabilities to assist in recovery, Goldstein said.
“Testing of water samples has confirmed contamination entered the Columbia River during the day yesterday. Additional evaluations are underway to better understand the scope and extent of that environmental impact,” Goldstein said.
“At this time, there … continue to be no identified negative health impacts to … the surrounding air quality or the city of Longview’s drinking water system.”
Officials advised that people stay away from parts of the area and said that about a dozen carp had died.
Nippon Paper Industries 3863.T, Japan’s second-biggest paper manufacturer by sales, acquired the Longview plant from Seattle-based timber company Weyerhaeuser WY.N for $225 million and established the wholly-owned subsidiary Nippon Dynawave Packaging in 2016.
(Reporting by Ismail Shakil and Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Caitlin Webber)
