Officials have announced the recovery of all missing victims following a chemical tank implosion at a paper mill in Washington state. This marks the end of a five-day search effort.
“Today, on day five of this incident, I can share that we have recovered the ninth and final missing employee of this incident,” said Longview Fire Chief Brad Hannig during a Saturday news conference.
The disaster began on Tuesday when a chemical tank at the Nippon Dynawave plant in Longview ruptured. The explosion claimed the lives of 11 people.
The identified victims are:
- Gilberto Bernal, 52
- Tyler Covington, 29
- Brad Covington, 27
- Robert Wilson, 48
- Dale Miller, 54
- Jared Ammons, 35
- Braydon Finkas, 38
- Clinton Duran, 26
- John Forsberg, 51
- Norman Barlow, 58
- Dillon Miller
Authorities shared that the tank held 900,000 gallons of white liquor, a hazardous chemical mix including sodium hydroxide, sodium sulfide, and disodium carbonate used in the paper-pulping process.
The incident occurred at 7:15 a.m. during a worker shift change. Cowlitz 2 Fire and Rescue’s Deputy Chief, Kurt Stitch, described the recovery as methodical and challenging, involving moving heavy materials indoors and conducting drone flyovers to ensure no remains were missed.
Efforts were also made to dilute high-pH water contaminated by the spill, noted as showing improvement. These contaminated ditches sit above an aquifer and a well field that supplies Longview with drinking water. Officials reassured that the contaminated water was redirected from the wellhead area, keeping Longview’s water supply safe.
The cause of the implosion remains under investigation.