An implosion at a paper mill company occurred Tuesday, but KING 5 Investigators find the company has a history of safety violations and state investigations.
LONGVIEW, Wash. — After an implosion at a paper mill in Longview on Tuesday, the KING 5 Investigators expose the company at the center of the implosion had a history of workplace violations.
Nippon Dynawave Packaging suffered a tank implosion early Tuesday morning, which killed at least one person and left others with critical injuries. The total number of deaths is not yet known as nine employees also remain unaccounted for, according to fire officials.
The rupture happened at the paper mill facility at 3401 Industrial Way, said Longview Fire Department Battalion Chief Mike Gorsuch. An 900,000-gallon tank that was about 60% full of white liquor ruptured. White liquor is a chemical mixture of sodium hydroxide, sodium sulfide and disodium carbonate that is used in the papermaking process. Fire officials said it was too early to determine why the tank ruptured.
KING 5 has reached out to the company for comment on the incident.
The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) cited the company four times for safety violations between 2019 and 2025.
L&I also has two open investigations into the Nippon company.
One of those investigations was opened two months ago, sparked by an anonymous complaint about a valve on a tank holding aqua ammonia, which is a highly corrosive chemical. The investigation is ongoing.
L&I officials told KING 5 that the investigation does not involve the tank that imploded on Tuesday.
The other investigation was opened in May after a complaint about a failed drain creating a sinkhole, according to L&I.
The four violations where Washington state already fined the company included not protecting employees from falling off equipment, not requiring face masks during the pandemic and an incident where an employee had their finger amputated.
State records show the company was not cited for causing the injury, but instead for moving the equipment before the state could do a proper inspection.
The company has paid $3,400 in penalties, which is a relatively small amount of money comparted to other fines issued by L&I to other businesses.
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