Things are mostly back to normal in the Consolidated Diking and Improvement District in Longview after a tank imploded at the Nippon Dynawave paper and pulp mill last month. The system helps the community control flooding through stormwater management. Authorities used its pumps and ditches and sloughs to flush and dilute the chemical spill from the disaster.
District Manager Amy Blain said they used “every available water source” to dilute the spill and move the contaminated water out of the dikes and ditches and toward the Columbia River.
“My system is in people's backyards, so that was a huge concern," she said. They used public messaging and signage to make sure no one touched the spilled chemicals.
Blain said the so-called “white liquor” actually looked “very black and inky” and smelled like rotten eggs, even though technicians from the federal Environmental Protection Agency registered no violations of safe air quality standards.
“Your nose can detect at parts per trillion, so it’s more sensitive than their measuring devices,” she said.
Eleven workers died in the mill tragedy. Eight others were injured, including one firefighter. And thousands of dead fish were collected by authorities in the week that followed, a reminder of how toxic the spill was.
Recovery teams from the state counted more than 2,200 dead fish in the first week.
“But the majority of the fish that we're finding are non-native or introduced species, things like carp, catfish, sunfish, perch,” said Ben Anderson, a communications manager with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. He said only a couple of dead salmon were found, and those had likely strayed from normal migratory patterns.
"These types of ditches — they commonly support warm-water fish and amphibian species that can tolerate lower water quality,” Anderson said.
The carp were introduced in the 1990s as a biological control to help reduce vegetation that can clog dikes and ditches.
Now Blain, whose work to flush the system protected the community’s drinking water, can turn her attention to the mechanical systems that may have suffered damage in the aftermath of the accident.
Blain is concerned about corrosion. She told KNKX there is only a small window of opportunity for fixes before the fall rains come, so she is moving quickly to replace a 5,000-pound pump and motor.
“The pH of the water at our industrial way pump station was 14, which is the highest that that scale goes,” Blain said. “So for now, we’re going to pull one pump, but based on what we see in that damage assessment, it could mean several more.”
Blain has submitted several invoices to Nippon Dynawave already and is expecting the paper mill’s owners to reimburse the diking district for damages from the accident.
With support from others, including Gov. Bob Ferguson, Blain is also pressing for new industrial policies for the region, such as requiring valves to contain future spills and keep them out of communities like Longview.
“I think there’s a lot of aging infrastructure along that entire corridor. It’s like 4 miles of industrial sites, so it does definitely change the tone for where we will be headed next,” Blain said. “I think this could have been a lot worse. I think it was sort of a warning shot across the bow.”
Blain worked in the mill industry for about a decade. Still, she said, the magnitude of the catastrophic tank failure and resulting tragedy surprised her.
Blain is concerned that many of the chemicals used in paper plants are less regulated than things like ammonia, chlorine and oil, and she plans to push the state to close those loopholes.
