Community wants answers in Longview tragedy

Published 1:30 am Monday, June 1, 2026

Last week’s disaster at a Longview paper mill is a reminder of the workplace dangers that many Americans face every day. And while we share in the grief over the loss of workers at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co., we also must look ahead out of a desire to prevent a repeat of the tragedy.

“The mill workers I’ve talked to want full accountability,” U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, said at a news conference. “They want a comprehensive, unbiased investigation into how this could have happened, so the failures can be addressed, so we can have safe jobs and come home to our families at night.”

Eleven workers had been confirmed dead after the implosion of a 900,000-gallon tank containing heavily caustic chemicals. Gov. Bob Ferguson said: “We’re bracing ourselves for this being the deadliest industrial tragedy in modern Washington state history. When you have a tragedy of that scale, the impact on individuals, on families and on communities is profound.”

There also is environmental damage to assess, with dangerous compounds contaminating the nearby Columbia River.

The Longview plant produces paper-based products for packaging and industrial use, with much of the output being thin cardboard such as that used for milk cartons. It is a complicated procedure, and The Seattle Times has provided a detailed explanation. As Julia Shamshina of Texas Tech University said about a single step in the process, “If there is any way for an accident to happen, it will.”

Heavy industry carries inherent risks; the use of caustic chemicals and heavy machinery can be dangerous even with diligent attention to safety. In 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recorded 5,070 workplace deaths, a slight decrease from the previous year. But any workplace tragedy — especially one of such significant scope — requires close scrutiny.

That is particularly true for a company such as Nippon Dynawave. The Longview plant, according to The Seattle Times, has a long history of clean air, clean water and safety violations and a record that “underscores a system of problems at the facility and light responses from regulators.”

Whether that system contributed to this week’s deaths remains to be seen; that is the purpose of an investigation. But some experts are quick to warn of outdated procedures in the paper industry while urging stricter regulations.

That reflects an enduring theme in U.S. politics. Regulations regarding air, water, workplace safety and any imaginable aspect of American life are subject to the Code of Federal Regulations, which reportedly stands at more than 188,000 pages. President Donald Trump last year issued an executive order calling for the elimination of at least 10 regulations for every new one that is implemented in order to “halt the job killing and inflation-driving regulatory blitz.”

Undoubtedly, there is room for a more thoughtful approach to the regulatory state. But there also is a need for oversight that limits the possibility of tragedies that impact families and entire communities.

None of that, for now, is pertinent to the people of Longview or to those with ties to Nippon Dynawave. The immediate focus is on the families involved and the heroic efforts of first responders, rescue workers and all who are helping a community to work through unfathomable emotions.

As Perez said, “This is an unknowable grief.”