Attorneys for the families of workers who died in a paper mill incident in Longview, Washington, have filed a third lawsuit following the deadly chemical spill that killed 11 people this spring. The latest suit is more sweeping, targeting multiple wood product companies in the Southwest Washington city.

The wrongful death lawsuit was filed in late October on behalf of the estates of Dillon Miller and Clinton Doran in Cowlitz County Superior Court. It seeks undisclosed damages for the deaths of the two men when a chemical tank collapsed, spilling hundreds of thousands of gallons of caustic chemicals last May. Nine other workers also died in the incident.

What stands out about the lawsuit is the broad range of entities being sued. It includes the paper mill operator Nippon Dynawave Packaging, as well as its U.S. and Japanese corporate parent companies. But the suit goes on to target two other companies that adjoin the paper mill at its industrial complex along the Columbia River, including seven entities associated with the timber processor, Weyerhaeuser, and North Pacific Paper Company, or NORPAC. Together, they are part of a consortium of companies at one facility that process logs into wood products and consumer paper goods.

Attorneys for the deceased men argue the group of companies share not only a physical location but potentially also responsibility for the fatal incident when it comes to the systems and culture that should have kept workers safe.

“We’re naming everybody that we believe had some contribution to the safety practices,” said Derek Moore, an attorney with Bishop Legal who is representing the families of Miller and Doran.

The suit argues that Weyerhaeuser, which sold the paper mill to Nippon Dynawave in 2016, bears responsibility for the incident because it built the chemical tank in a location that exposed workers to a “catastrophic rupture,” Moore said. Attorneys hope to determine NORPAC’s contribution to the companies’ safety culture during the discovery process, he said.

An unnamed spokesperson for Nippon Dynawave said the company is unable to comment on active litigation but that it is “committed to approaching this matter with compassion and respect for those affected.”

Weyerhaeuser’s “thoughts continue to be with the families who lost loved ones,” wrote Public Affairs Manager Mary Catherine McAleer. “Although Weyerhaeuser previously owned the Longview pulp and paper facility, we have not owned or managed the facility since it was sold to Nippon more than 10 years ago.”

A spokesperson for International Paper, which owns NORPAC, said the company can’t comment on ongoing legal matters.

Last month, Nippon Dynawave sought to dismiss one of two other lawsuits filed on behalf of workers who died in the incident. Mackenzie Ammons sued the paper mill in September over the death of her spouse, Jared Ammons.

Lawyers for the company argued it was protected under Washington state’s industrial insurance act. The century-old law promises swift compensation for on-the-job injuries through the workers’ compensation program but provides broad immunity to employers in return.

According to the more recent lawsuit, the fatal chemical spill rises to the level of a narrow exception to the Washington state workers’ comp law. It represents a “deliberate intention,” on the part of Nippon Dynawave, Moore said, because the company knew the chemical tank was weakened from corrosion and injury or death was “certain” to occur.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/11/09/longview-washington-nippon-dynawave-paper-mill-chemical/