Security camera footage released this week offers a glimpse of the catastrophic implosion at the Nippon Dynawave wood pulp mill in May that killed 11 workers.

The video, released via Washington’s public records law by the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office, was captured by a mounted camera at the industrial pulp paper mill in Longview, Washington. The roughly 10-minute video shows the massive tank buckling as it unleashed a slew of caustic chemicals into the jobsite.

The camera is hundreds of feet away, perched over a parking area, during the May 26 incident. The rush of white liquor — a harsh chemical used in the pulp-making process to rapidly break down wood products — is obscured by large semi trucks and concrete walls. White clouds rise from the scene.

The video shows white liquor continued to spill across the parking lot nearer the camera, leaving pools of smoking liquid. Officials said hundreds of thousands of gallons of white liquor spilled from the tank, which later wound up in ditches and dykes throughout Longview.

The Seattle Times first reported on the records.

Roughly a dozen workers had been in or near a break room on the ground floor near the path of the spewing white liquor. The hazardous conditions delayed rescue efforts for several days. In all, first responders spent five days retrieving the bodies of nine victims. Two others died at area hospitals.

Autopsies conducted by the Cowlitz County Coroner’s Office and the Multnomah County Medical Examiner’s Office later deemed severe chemical burns a significant factor in all 11 workers’ deaths.

The cause of the incident has not been determined. Investigations are underway by the Washington state Attorney General, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, Washington state Labor and Industries, and attorneys representing survivors and the families of the victims.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/08/19/longview-washington-chemical-spill-nippon-dynawave/