Crews in Longview begin removing failed tank months after disaster

Work crews took the first steps Monday toward restarting the Longview paper mill that closed after a fatal chemical spill in May, even as questions about the accident and the mill’s future remain unanswered.

Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. said crews have started dismantling the massive “white liquor” storage tank that collapsed May 26, killing 11 and injuring at least eight.

The company is also installing temporary tanks to hold the white liquor and another chemical, known as “black liquor,” that will eventually be “needed for operational restart” of the mill, a company spokesperson confirmed Friday.

How long all that will take is still unclear.

Nippon Dynawave said Friday it expects the tank work “to take a matter of weeks,” but hasn’t given an estimate for a full restart of the shuttered mill, which made pulp for papermaking and packaging material for food containers and other products.

Company documents filed Monday indicate the temporary tanks could be in use for up to three months.

And state investigators say it may be late November before they release findings.

Despite those uncertainties, the week’s activity was welcome news for the aging facility’s more than 500 workers.

They’re being paid during the shutdown, but have received scant information about a restart timeline. That uncertainty comes amid reports of financial challenges at the mill’s Japan-based owner, Nippon Paper, which bought the facility in 2016.

Still, “it’s a positive indication that the intent is to get that mill restarted,” said Josh Estes, spokesperson for the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers, which represents many of the mill’s employees.

Although Nippon Dynawave is coordinating the tank work with the state Department of Labor and Industries and other state agencies, the company isn’t required to wait for the investigation to wrap up before restarting the mill, according to Matt Ross, an L&I spokesperson.

L&I has verified that the demolition wouldn’t hamper the agency’s investigation or create safety problems, but the timing of work is up to Nippon Dynawave, Ross said.

“Nippon’s re-opening process would move forward on their timeline, as long as that work is done safely and does not interfere with our inspection or remove evidence related to our work,” Ross said in a statement Monday.

On Friday, Nippon Dynawave said it had “worked with an external contractor, as required by state law, to perform an engineering survey of the tanks and develop a demolition plan.”

Nippon Dynawave has also filed notices for the work with the state Department of Ecology, which monitors wastewater issues.

Those notices, posted Monday on the Ecology website, offer a glimpse into the complexity of the restart process.

Nippon Dynawave “is conducting a comprehensive bulk tank inspection and maintenance process in cooperation with” L&I, which “involves draining, inspecting, repairing and/or rebuilding (as necessary), and returning to service several bulk liquor storage tanks,” reads a document entitled 2026 Temporary Liquor Storage Addendum.

The temporary tanks, which include two with capacities of several hundred thousand gallons each, will be used to store chemicals that are currently contained in several of the mill’s existing tanks, so those existing tanks can be emptied and inspected.

In Monday’s filings with Ecology, the company estimates the temporary tanks “will be used for up to three months, depending on tank repair (or rebuild) timelines.”

It’s not clear whether the company anticipates that the restart process could take three months. Monday’s filings appeared to indicate that the temporary tanks might also be used once the mill has resumed production.

The tanks will allow the company “facilitate this inspection and maintenance activity while retaining on-site liquor inventory for future mill startup,” according to the filing.

State Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview, said a lengthy restart process is inevitable, given the complexity of the mill machinery, the ongoing investigation and the fact that the May shutdown was immediate, unlike the planned shutdowns for maintenance.

Wilson, who worked for 23 years on the mill site as a contractor, said he has spoken with Nippon employees, and “they made it very clear to me that this is going to be a slow restart, in phases.”

In mid-July, the company agreed to extend pay for all mill workers until Oct. 11.

Wilson said many in the Longview community worry Nippon Dynawave might not reopen the mill, which was built in the early 1950s, given the cost of the repairs and the likelihood of prolonged litigation.

Earlier this month, Nippon Paper reported a 47% decline in operating profit for the three months ending June 30, compared to the same period in 2025.

The company also announced said it was withdrawing a financial forecast for its fiscal year 2027, which ends March 31, 2027, due to uncertainties over the May 26 accident, as well as unrelated damage to a facility in Japan from a July 28 earthquake.

Nippon Paper’s quarterly report noted a decline in earnings at Nippon Dynawave Packaging. It didn’t link that decline to the Longview accident, but to “the deteriorating supply-demand balance in the North American market.”

Those problems come as the global paper industry is facing shifting demand and softer prices for some products, along with concerns about overcapacity, which has resulted in several mill closures in recent years.