Six recovered and search continues after Longview pulp-mill incident; EPA says Columbia River safe

Officials at a multiagency press briefing in Longview, Washington, said six of nine people have been recovered after an industrial incident at a pulp mill and that search-and-recovery operations are ongoing amid hazardous conditions.

"We can confirm that 6 of the 9 individuals have been recovered," the fire chief said, adding that recovered individuals are being decontaminated and transported to the Cowlitz County coroner for identification and family notification. Officials said three people remain unaccounted for and that recovery work proceeds only as engineers and safety teams clear and secure areas for entry.

The briefing combined updates on recovery operations and environmental-monitoring efforts. Battalion Chief Matt Amos described the scene as a complex industrial hazard with electrical, collapse and hazardous-materials risks that limit the number and duration of interior entries. "We are continuously locking out, tagging out, and isolating hazardous conditions," Amos said, calling recovery "very labor intensive" and noting crews rotate and must decontaminate between entries.

Brooks Stanfield, the EPA federal on-scene coordinator, said federal teams have been conducting around-the-clock air monitoring since arrival and "have not actually had a detection of hydrogen sulfide or any of the other air contaminants we've encountered." He also told reporters that a small amount of white liquor reached the Columbia River in the first minutes of the response but that the outfall was quickly shut off. "It is safe to swim and fish in the Columbia River right now," Stanfield said, and he added there were no active advisories at the time of the briefing.

EPA and local partners are prioritizing protection of public health and the environment in connected ditch networks that run through residential areas. Stanfield said teams have observed elevated pH in ditches and some dead fish; short-term acute impacts to fish are expected, and longer-term effects are under evaluation with fish and wildlife agencies. To protect a sole-source aquifer and nearby well field, response teams are drawing freshwater from the Cowlitz River to push and dilute contaminated water westward while opening pumps to discharge monitored water to the Columbia River. Stanfield said the two monitored discharge points were reporting pH values of about 7 and 8.5 at the most recent check and that crews are aiming to reduce pH levels below 9.

Chris Collins, Longview’s public works director and assistant city manager, said the municipal drinking water supply "is safe" and emphasized that the city’s wells draw from a deep aquifer (about 200 feet) and that the system serves roughly 65,000 people, including neighboring service areas. Collins said the city’s utility and EPA monitors have not identified a public-health threat to the treated water and that crews are using hydrant flushing to help dilute and move surface contaminants away from sensitive areas, while advising residents to avoid contact with ditch water and keep pets away until officials lift restrictions.

Nippon Dynawave’s director of support services, Brian Wood, said the pulp mill was shut down in an orderly fashion, that some critical infrastructure (including the effluent-treatment system) is being staffed with minimum personnel, and that the company has arranged to pay employees who cannot work because of the incident. Officials also said the Chemical Safety Board and the Washington Department of Labor and Industries are expected to lead cause-and-circumstance investigations once interior areas are safe for investigators.

Officials said they are coordinating family assistance and reunification support and that the coroner’s office is working with incident teams to notify families. The incident command said it will release another press release later the same day and planned a follow-up press conference the next day.

What officials did not give at the briefing was a final, reconciled casualty count: while the fire chief said six people had been recovered, a reporter later cited a figure of eight confirmed fatalities; officials did not provide a definitive consolidated total during the briefing and said the coroner is leading identification and notifications.

Next steps announced at the briefing included continued monitoring of air and water, ongoing recovery entries as engineering clearances permit, and follow-up investigations by safety agencies. The incident Joint Information Center invited media to send questions to jic@ecy.wa.gov for further updates.