U.S. Chemical Safety Board releases video showing collapse of 1.2-million-gallon atmospheric storage tank
A Washington state pulp mill where a tank collapse killed 11 workers in May had a documented history of safety complaints and poor maintenance, according to an Associated Press (AP) investigation.
AP reported that Washington's Department of Ecology issued 54 environmental violation notices against Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. (NDP) since 2016, fining the company US$41,500 for eight serious breaches.
The state's Department of Labor and Industries separately investigated more than a dozen safety complaints at the Longview plant since 2018, according to the report.
More than $2.4 million in workers' compensation claims were paid for 169 injured employees since 2015, AP found, including claims linked to caustic chemical exposure.
Tank known to be unsafe
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board said the company knew the failed tank was "not fit for continued service" but kept using it, AP reported.
Chemical engineering professor Stephen Kmiotek told the publication that the violations were a "red flag," saying the site "has not been maintained, and that creates risk to employees and risk to public."
A wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Sheri Lynn King alleges the company failed to maintain equipment, train staff, and implement emergency procedures, according to the report.
Company spokesperson Sam Jefferies declined to address the maintenance records, saying only that the company supports letting "the full investigative process" establish an accurate record, according to the report.
Warnings before the collapse
An inspector had planned to interview workers on May 26 — the day of the collapse — about a detached ammonia valve handle that risked toxic exposure and explosion, AP reported.
That probe concluded in August with a $2,890 fine, the plant's largest penalty in a decade.
A separate April complaint, involving a worker who fell chest-deep into a sinkhole and became submerged in hot stock, remains under investigation, according to the report.
Both the tank collapse investigation and the sinkhole case are ongoing, alongside two new probes opened since May, according to AP.
The Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers (AWPPW), which represents employees at the NDP mill, has been among the most vocal stakeholders since the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) released an investigation update showing the failed tank had been flagged as unfit for service roughly 10 months before the collapse. The union called the findings "deeply troubling" and demanded a full accounting of how safety decisions were made, according to a Fox 13 Seattle report.
Union spokesperson Josh Estes has repeatedly urged caution against premature conclusions while still pressing for transparency, Packaging Dive reported. He noted that the CSB's interim update, while significant, does not offer a complete picture of the incident or establish causation and responsibility for the tank failure, and said the union "will not minimize the seriousness of the information released, but we will also not draw" premature conclusions, according to the report.
The union has also pushed back against speculation based on visual evidence alone. In an earlier update, following release of post-collapse site photographs, AWPPW cautioned the public not to draw conclusions about the incident based simply on the images being circulated, reported the Packaging Dive.
Meanwhile, NDP has directly disputed the CSB's framing of events. In an Aug. 28 statement, the company said it was "deeply disappointed" by the release of the initial update, saying investigators "failed to include important facts and context regarding actions taken by NDP and the timeline of events before the May 26th incident,” Katu reported.
