Environmental regulators issued violation notices on Wednesday to the paper mill in Longview, Washington, that was the site of a fatal chemical tank failure on May 26.

The Department of Ecology issued notices of 35 violations against the Nippon Dynawave Packaging company. The agency said each violation could come with a maximum daily fine of $10,000, and noted that about a quarter of those violations spanned multiple days.

The incident led to the deaths of 11 employees at the pulp and paper mill after a corrosive chemical known as “white liquor” spilled out of a 900,000-gallon storage tank. It wound up in the surrounding community’s storm drains and the Columbia River.

“This event was devastating for the Longview community, and the release of chemicals reached nearby waterways and the Columbia River,” Ecology’s director Casey Sixkiller said in a statement. “Issuing these environmental violations is an initial step toward accounting for the impacts of this tragedy.”

Records show ruptured tank at Longview paper mill was being worked on, scheduled for replacement before incident

Wednesday’s notice of violations is not guaranteed to result in monetary penalties or corrective actions being required. The company has 30 days to respond to the environmental regulator.

“We take the findings outlined by the Department of Ecology seriously and will work through each of them carefully and directly,” Nippon Dynawave spokesperson Sam Jefferies wrote in a statement.

“Ecology’s findings document serious environmental impacts following the tank failure, and those impacts must be addressed through the established regulatory process,” said Josh Estes, a spokesperson for the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers, a union representing employees at the mill.

The initial notice from Ecology also notes that the agency will attempt to recover costs incurred by Washington state during the emergency response to the tank failure, though a specific dollar amount was not specified. Washington state agencies— including the Department of Ecology, the Department of Labor and Industries, and others — were on site immediately after the incident.

Ecology noted in its release that it regulates Nippon’s chemical spill prevention and pollution, but not other aspects of the mill such as the structural integrity of its chemical storage tanks.

Multiple investigations into the tank failure remain ongoing from state and federal agencies.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/08/26/washington-ecology-longview-mill-violations/