Wilson calls for investigation, report, on Longview disaster

Washington state Sen. Jeff Wilson, D-Longview, is calling for a state-led investigation of the deadly chemical incident and spill at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging paper mill in Longview.

The Longview-based politician and his team published a news release late Wednesday afternoon describing the incident and calling on the Washington state Department of Labor and Industries to lead a “thorough, prompt and transparent” investigation to be presented to the state legislature for review.

“If there is anything we in the Legislature can do to ensure this never happens again, we need to know about it,” Wilson said.

As previously reported by multiple outlets including the Washington State Standard and the Seattle Times, a tank on site of the Nippon paper mill in Longview breached spilling up to 900,000 gallons of a toxic and corrosive chemical commonly known as white liquor.

The chemical mixture is commonly used in paper mills and made up of mostly sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide.

Eleven individuals have been confirmed dead since the spill, which includes two who escaped the site but did not survive injuries, and nine who were originally unaccounted for and recovered sometime before Sunday. According to the release, Wilson worked as a “cleanup-and-compliance contractor” at the same Nippon Dynawave Packaging plant currently experiencing possibly one of the deadliest industrial disasters in recent state history.

In his statement, Wilson emphasized the impact the disaster will have on the community which he described as a mill town and said that many would be touched by the grief of those who died in the disaster. Wilson’s son is employed at the Nippon Longview NORPAC facility.

“Longview has always been a mill town,” Wilson said. “If you don’t work at the mill, the chances are you know someone who does. We are a tight-knit community and this tragedy hits all of us. It’s going to take some time for us to heal.”

Wilson included a brief background on the mill. According to his team, the plant opened in 1953 and was owned by Weyerhaeuser, one of the most prolific timber companies in the state, before it was sold to Nippon Paper Co. in 2016.