9th worker recovered from site of paper mill implosion in Washington state

Paige Cornwell, The Seattle Times on May 29, 2026

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SEATTLE — A ninth worker killed in a Longview paper mill implosion has been recovered from the site, officials said Friday.

The tank implosion at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging pulp and paper mill likely killed 11 employees. Two people died shortly after the implosion in hospitals and six bodies were recovered Thursday.

Officials said they were working to recover the two remaining inside the implosion site.

The names of the workers killed in the implosion haven’t been officially released, although the wife of employee Jared Ammons confirmed to The Seattle Times that he was killed in the incident.

Gov. Bob Ferguson ordered flags at state agencies be lowered to half-staff Sunday for a week to honor the memories of the Nippon victims.

Seven employees and a firefighter were injured in the implosion. Two employees were severely burned and remain hospitalized in the Oregon Burn Center.

The mill’s tank held hundreds of thousands of gallons of white liquor. The implosion released a “high pH caustic liquid” through a storm drain and into a ditch that is connected to a drainage network that moves through the community of Longview, said Brooks Stanfield, the on-scene coordinator with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Longview’s drinking water is safe to drink, as its water source has been protected from contamination. But risks remain as the cleanup focuses on preventing any more contamination and diluting any spilled chemicals into the Columbia River. Officials say they have been drawing fresh water from the Cowlitz River to dilute and flush the contaminated water. That diluted water is being released in the Columbia.