Crews have begun to dismantle three out-of-service storage tanks at the Nippon Dynawave Longview mill where a catastrophic tank failure in May 2026 caused the deaths of 11 workers.
The three tanks being dismantled are the Weak Wash Tank, No 4 White Liquor Tank and G-Tank, the latter being the tank that failed. Efforts to return the site to operations include draining, inspecting, and repairing or rebuilding several bulk liquor storage tanks. Nippon also filed a temporary liquor storage plan with the Washington Department of Ecology for two temporary aboveground storage tanks; one to hold black liquor with a capacity of 450,000 gallons, and one to hold white liquor with a capacity of 650,000 gallons.
Since May 2026, the site has been operating at a limited capacity, with only critical employees still working. On 17 July, Nippon stated it would ‘continue to provide full compensation to all employees unable to work as a result of the partial shutdown at its Longview, Washington facility through [to] 11 October 2026, extending its previous commitment to support affected workers and their families.’
