An implosion at a Washington State paper facility has killed one person and injured at least nine others. Photo courtesy Longview Fire Department/Facebook
May 26 (UPI) -- Nine people remained missing Tuesday evening following an implosion at a paper manufacturing facility in Washington that killed one person and injured nine others, authorities said.
The incident at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging facility in Longview, Wash., occurred around 7:15 a.m. PDT. Officials told reporters during a Tuesday evening press conference that a 900,000-gallon tank containing a chemical used in the production of paper in what authorities described as an implosion.
Officials believe that the tank potentially contains up to 90,000 gallons of the chemical known as white liquor -- a water solution of sodium sulfide and sodium hydroxide, according to the Environmental Protection Agency -- posing a threat to responders and hampering recovery efforts.
"Crews are actively assessing the structural integrity of that tank and were working on plans to stabilize that tank before additional recovery operations can safely proceed," Scott Goldstein, chief of the Cowlitz 2 Fire and Rescue, said.
