Longview mill owner extends pay for workers idled by deadly accident

Workers at the Longview paper mill that was closed by a deadly accident in May will continue to receive full wages but have yet to hear when the mill might restart.

“We will be paying staff through October 11, whether they are instructed to come in or not,” a Nippon Dynawave Packaging spokesperson said in a statement Friday morning.

Most of the more than 500 workers at the liquid packaging mill, which produced material for paper cups and other products, have been idle since the May 26 spill of highly caustic liquid that left 11 dead.

In June, Nippon Dynawave said it would pay staff “at least” through Aug. 8 as investigators probed the cause of one of the deadliest industrial incidents in modern state history.

“Nippon Dynawave Packaging is committed to continuing support for all employees and their families during this time,” the company said Friday.

The pay extension is welcome news for Nippon Dynawave workers and their families, whose lives have been on hold since the accident.

“While there is still significant work ahead, today’s announcement represents another positive step in providing stability for the dedicated employees and families who have already endured so much,” the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers said in a statement Friday.

for Longview and the rest of Cowlitz County have been centered for decades on the timber and paper industries.

The paper industry employs around 2,300 workers, or around 6% of the county workforce. Workers make an average of $112,000 a year, compared to $70,000 for the county workforce overall, according to data from the state Employment Security Department.

“It’s definitely on the higher side,” said Emily Robertson, an economist at the department who covers the southwest part of the state.

It’s unclear when the mill might restart or when regulators expect to complete their investigation of the accident.

“In the coming months, [Nippon Dynawave] will continue supporting remediation efforts and the independent investigations and reviews currently underway, while cooperating fully with all relevant agencies,” the company said in a notice to workers Friday morning.

“We are following guidance from authorities and evaluating operations as more information becomes available. We will continue to share updates as decisions are made,” the company said.

Since the accident, some workers have been called back to work but activity at the facility had been largely limited to the shipment of materials that had already been produced before the May 26 accident.

It’s also unclear what the closure means for commercial customers of the mill.

Japan-based Nippon Paper purchased the Longview mill from Weyerhaeuser as part of a broader effort to cope with falling global demand for traditional paper products and the growing appetite for paper packaging materials.

Built in the early 1950s, the plant can produce up to 300,000 tons of “liquid packaging” material year – “enough to make six billion quart-size milk cartons,” according to the Northwest Pulp & Paper Association.

More recently, Nippon Paper dealt with supply chain disruptions and spiking energy costs and, in 2023, posted a large financial loss, according to company filings.

However, the company, which employs around 15,000 people globally, had returned to profitability and appeared to be recovering when tragedy struck the Longview facility.

The facility was providing around 75,000 tons of kraft slurry pulp to a neighboring facility known as Norpac, according to media reports.

The mill also provides wastewater treatment services to Norpac and a number of other nearby facilities, but those services were unaffected by the accident, according to the state Department of Ecology.

Union officials emphasized the challenge of reopening the mill.

“Restarting a complex industrial facility following an event of this magnitude is an extraordinarily involved process,” the union said Friday.

“Multiple independent investigations remain underway, remediation efforts continue, engineering and operational planning must be completed, and every step toward restarting operations must be undertaken carefully and safely,” the union statement continued. “These are deliberate processes that require collaboration, patience, and a shared commitment to doing things the right way.”