Crews are dismantling the tank involved in May’s fatal chemical spill and installing temporary liquor storage as the mill plans for a phased restart.
Work crews took the first steps Monday towards resuming the Longview paper mill that closed after a fatal chemical spill in May, while questions about the accident and the mill’s future stay unanswered.
Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. said crews have commenced dismantling the large “white liquor” storage tank that collapsed May 26, killing 11 and injuring at least 8.
The company is also installing temporary tanks to hold the white liquor and another chemical, called black liquor,” that will eventually be “wanted for operational restart” of the mill, a company spokesperson confirmed Friday.
How long all that will take is still unclear.
Nippon Dynawave mention on Friday it anticipate the tank work “to take a matter of weeks,” however hasn’t given an estimate for a complete restart of shuttered mill, which made pulp for papermaking and packaging material for food containers and other products.
Company documents filed Monday shows the temporary tanks could be in use for up 3 months.
And state investigators say it may be late November before they launch findings.
In spite of those uncertainties, the week’s activity was welcome news for the aging facility’s more than 500 employees.
They’re being paid during the shutdown, however have obtained 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 suggestion that the aim is to get that mill restarted,” stated Josh Estes, spokesperson for the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers, which signifies many of the mill’s employees.
That restart method is basically independent of the state investigation.
Although Nippon Dynawave is managing the tank work with the state Department of Labor & Industries and other state agencies, the company isn’t needed to wait for the investigation to wrap up before restarting the mill, as per Matt Ross, an L&I spokesperson.
L&I has verified that the demolition wouldn’t hamper the agency’s investigation or form safety issues, however the timing of work is up to Nippon Dynawave, Ross mention.
“Nippon’s reopening procedure would move ahead on their timeline, as long as that work is completed safely and does not interfere with our inspection or remove evidence associated to our work,” Ross stated in a declaration Monday.
On Friday, Nippon Dynawave said it had “worked with an external contractor, as needed by state law, to conduct 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, provide a glimpse into the complexity of the restart procedure.
Nippon Dynawave “is carrying out a comprehensive bulk tank inspection and maintenance procedure in cooperation with” L&I, which “includes draining, examining, repairing and/or rebuilding (as needed), and returning to service numerous bulk liquor storage tanks,” reads a document entitled 2026 Temporary Liquor Storage Addendum.
The temporary tanks, which consist of two with capacities of numerous hundred thousand gallons each, can be used to store chemicals which currently contained in numerous of the mill’s present 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 a 3-months, relying on tank repair [or rebuild] timelines.”
It’s not clear whether the company expects that the restart procedure could take 3-months. Monday’s filings seemed to signifies that the temporary tanks might also be used once the mill has resumed manufacturing.
The tanks will permit the company “facilitate this inspection and maintenance activity while maintaining on-site liquor inventory for future mill startup,” as per the filing.
State Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview, stated a prolonged restart process is inevitable, given the complexity of the mill machinery, the continuing investigation and the fact that the May shutdown was instant, unlike the deliberate shutdowns for maintenance.
Wilson, who worked for 23 years on the mill site as a contractor, stated he has spoken with Nippon workers, and “they made it very clear to me that that is going to be a slow restart, in phases.
In mid-July, the company agreed to broaden pay for all mill employees until Oct. 11.
Wilson stated many within the Longview community worry Nippon Dynawave might not reopen the mill, which was built in the early 1950s, given the price of the repairs and the likelihood of prolonged litigation.
Earlier this month, Nippon Paper reported a 47% decline in operating profit for the 3-months ending June 30, compared to the same period in 2025.
The company also declared stated 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 to unrelated harm to a facility in Japan from a July 28 earthquake.
Nippon Paper’s quarterly report cited a decline in earnings at Nippon Dynawave Packaging. It didn’t link that decline to the Longview accident, however to “the deteriorating supply-demand balance in the North American market.”
Those issues come as the worldwide paper industry is dealing with shifting demand and softer costs for some products, along with concerns about overcapacity, which has resulted in numerous mill closures in recent years.
