Governor Bob Ferguson has ordered flags across Washington state to be flown at half-staff for one week in honour of the victims killed in the chemical tank rupture at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging facility in Longview earlier this week.
The order takes effect Sunday, 31 May, though Ferguson said state agencies and businesses are welcome to begin lowering flags as early as Friday, 29 May. Flags are to remain at half-staff through Sunday, 7 June, with agencies permitted to leave them lowered through the night and until Monday morning, 8 June, if needed.
In his statement accompanying the order, Ferguson described the incident as a mass casualty event that has devastated Washington state. “I am deeply saddened by the recent industrial tragedy that occurred in Longview, Washington, at the Nippon Dynawave facility,” Ferguson said. “This mass casualty event has devastated Washington state. We grieve with the Longview community and the impacted families.”
The death toll from Tuesday’s rupture of a 900,000-gallon white liquor tank at the pulp and paper mill has risen to eleven. Seven victims were recovered from the site, while two additional workers died of their injuries while receiving medical care off site. Heading into the weekend, recovery efforts were still underway for two missing victims whose bodies had not yet been located. Eight more people suffered chemical burns or inhalation injuries in the incident.
White liquor, a highly corrosive chemical mixture of sodium hydroxide, sodium sulfide, and disodium carbonate used in the paper-making process, was the substance involved in the rupture. The cause of the implosion remains under investigation.
