LIVE: Officials share update on Longview chemical tank implosion

Added: 2026-05-31

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[00:04:06]Good afternoon everyone. David Moa with you on this Thursday where we're about to get an update from authorities on the deadly chemical tank blast a Long View paper mill where some 55 hours in. 11 people are presumed dead. They include a grandfather and father named Gilbert Bernal who worked as an electrician at the Deon Dinoway facility for some 15 years. At this point, efforts to recover the remains of nine employees at the plant are ongoing and we do expect to hear about some of the ongoing challenges around that within the next few minutes. As soon as that happens, we'll bring it to you live. We appreciate you being with us on what's been really a difficult week for so many families in the Northwest. We also expect to hear about the bigger environmental concerns given roughly an Olympic size pool of costic chemicals poured into the Colombia and surrounding areas on Tuesday morning. This afternoon, Long View City officials saying drinking water does remain safe and the water treatment plant there is set to shut down if it detects any signs of contamination. Also, the dikes and ditches surrounding the plant are being flushed out with water from both the Cowitz River and the city supply, diluting that costic chemical.

[00:05:13]understand officials have taken the podium. Let's listen in.

[00:05:16]>> This incident continues to have on victims, families, co-workers, responders, and the broader community.

[00:05:25]For a victim update, I we can confirm that six of the nine individuals have been recovered and we continue working with the coroner to notify families.

[00:05:37]Recovery recovery efforts continue. The priority priority is ensuring responder safety while treating every victim with the greatest dignity, care, and respect possible.

[00:05:51]As individuals are recovered from the site, they undergo decontamination before being transported to the Kalat County Coroner's Office for identification and family notification.

[00:06:04]We are incredibly humbled by the outpouring of support from the community for our first responders and the affected families. We know many people want to help and are looking for ways to contribute. Our team is currently working to coordinate verified donation and support channels and we will share that information with the community as soon as it becomes available.

[00:06:29]This continues to be an active and hazardous recovery environment. I want to make that clear that we are working diligently and crews have from the beginning to have the best outcome to save as many as they possibly could and recover all of the victims as soon as possible.

[00:06:56]I'll turn things over to Battalion Chief Matt Amos from the Long View Fire Department who has been over our operation.

[00:07:04]Matt, >> thank you, Chief. Thank you for being here. Uh, my name is Matt Amos, M- A T A M O. I'm the battalion chief from Long View Fire Department. I've been somewhat with boots on the ground in the operation. Um, and as an operational update, we still have numerous local, regional, state, and federal agencies continuing to work together alongside all the facility personnel. We're maintaining uh minimal activity around the tank. It still remains the same condition as yesterday after we flow we flew the area with drones and did vision inspections um with our engineers partners here on site. Uh we continue to use an exclusion zone around that tank.

[00:07:55]Um we're actively working outside that area for recovery of our victims. Um we don't anticipate the tank to be a risk uh at this time for where we're working or for uh future spills.

[00:08:14]For us, this uh continues to be incredibly difficult for all of us here um and also everyone involved. We appreciate the professionalism of all of our responders uh that are working this operation and the patience that uh that's been shown by the community to Brook Stanfield. He's our emergency protection agency coordinator.

[00:08:45]Good afternoon everyone. My name is Brooks Stanfield. B R O Ks S Tan F I L D. I'm a federal onseene coordinator with the US Environmental Protection Agency. Um, in addition to the really, really critical complicated work of recovering the workers of this facility safely, this incident command is also focused on protecting human health in the environment.

[00:09:17]Um, I have the privilege to represent the United States Environmental Protection Agency and work alongside of our partners at the Washington Department of Ecology, uh, members of the Kalis Indian tribe, the Yakma Nation, and several other state, federal, and local agencies, including the Coast Guard, the city of Long View, the Cowitz Dyke Improvement District, just to name a few.

[00:09:44]We're all working very hard to ensure that the health and environment of this community is protected as we manage this delicate operation here on the on the plant facility. So I'm going to talk about how we're doing this in a couple of ways. Two two to three main focus areas and of this work. So first of all start with the the easy part which is air quality. We got here on Tuesday, EPA arrived and immediately began deploying air monitors to make sure that the air both onsite and migrating offsite is was safe for the community to breathe. The main the main contaminant we were concerned with was hydrogen sulfide.

[00:10:24]Knowing what we know about this facility and the contaminants involved, I can report to you we've been monitoring 24 hours a day since we arrived here. And not only have we not seen any exceedences of health criteria, we have not actually had a detection of hydrogen sulfide or any of the other air contaminants we we might have encountered. So that's really good news.

[00:10:45]But we will continue on with that air monitoring operation for the foreseeable future.

[00:10:51]The other main human health and environmental issue that we are are managing and and dedicating a lot of resources toward is the result of the discharge of high pH costic liquid from the facility through the storm drain and into the ditch on the north side of Industrial Way here just across the street. So obviously there was a large amount of volume that was released from the tank. So in addition to fire water that entered into a storm drain, it ended up discharging into this industrial d or the the ditch on the north side of industrial way. That ditch is connected to the to a dyke network that moves throughout the entire community of Long View. It is it literally runs through people's backyards. Uh people have access to it.

[00:11:41]People dogs can swim in it. It's obviously something where uh there is a a risk for people to come in contact with that that liquid um if we don't prevent them from from doing so. So the in initial days we saw elevated pH levels that would have been Tuesday we saw elevated pH levels in the in the ditch mostly localized to the outfall near the facility but over time we saw that pH uh migrating through the system.

[00:12:10]One major concern we have with this besides the immediate health health or uh safety of residents is that this ditch sits on top of a sole source aquafer and a wellfield where the the city of Long View gets its its primary drinking water source from. So, in in consultation with the utilities here, we've been uh developing a plan to flush that high pH liquid away from that well field over the last couple of days. We began those operations yesterday. That that strategy involves two two main parts which one is drawing water fresh water from the Kalat River on the east side of this this network and pushing the water west by diluting and and flooding that that and flushing that water to the west. At the same time, we are opening up two discharge pumps that discharge water to the Columbia River on the west side of this network. they are pulling that water to the west and discharging water to the Columbia River.

[00:13:18]What of course so this is a primarily an effort to get that water away from the drinking water wells. Uh my colleague here Chris Collins from the city of of Long View can speak to um the the cleanliness of the water and the safety of the water to drink. He's going to tell you that it is indeed safe to drink and they're monitoring it very diligently, but it's something that we don't want to risk. So, we're we're taking this threat seriously and pushing this water to the west. As we push it to the west, we are also monitoring the pH of that water to make sure that any water that does get discharged to the Columbia River is in compliance with basically neutral water standards.

[00:14:02]trying to get as below a pH of nine to get it to a normal pH that we would see in this system. Right now at la the last report we got was at the two discharge points. One was discharging pH water of a pH of 7 and the other was water at a pH of 8.5. We're going to continue monitoring that. If we hit a pH of nine, we have some additional strategies we can employ to bring that pH down.

[00:14:30]Um I think the only other thing I want to say is that the ditches we are we are monitoring those. There are still areas with elevated pH in in the in the water there and we are continue and stay out of those ditches and dikes.

[00:14:53]And um the last thing is that if if people want more information, wa the Washington Department of Ecology has set up an incident website where you can get regular updates. The easiest way to locate that website is by going to Washington Department of Ecy's Facebook page. So with that, I'll hand the um the uh microphone over to Chris Collins with City of Long View.

[00:15:18]>> Thank you, Brooks. Hi, my name is Chris Collins. C H R I S C O L L I Ns. I'm the public works director and the assistant city manager for the city of Long View.

[00:15:28]Um first thing I want to make sure and to to state is Long View's water is safe. Uh there is no cause for concerns.

[00:15:36]Uh as Brooke mentions, uh we did we were successfully able to divert all of the contaminated water away from our wellhead protection area, which is our point of concern or a point of potential concern. Um however the even then it's it's not a concern today uh because our well head does or our wells are drawn from aquifer that is approximately 200 feet deep that is charged by the Columbia River uh not necessarily charged by surface waters. So our well is uh very protected from any sort of surface environmental concerns. Uh that said uh the water that you were drinking before this incident is the same water you're drinking today. our our plant is extremely complex uh but is extremely um safe and there are built-in redundancies that the plant will shut down uh way way before any uh contaminants would enter into uh the public drinking water system. So, uh, we've also, uh, in in addition to the efforts that Brooks mentioned, um, with the flushing and the moving of the water, we are also, uh, opening a lot of fire hydrants. So, the community may see, uh, us, uh, flushing water into the street that drains into the Slooh's. that is uh a secondary method that we are utilizing to add water to the SLO both for dilution as well as uh to move the water uh in the direction the contaminated water in the direction that we want it to move. Um, as you uh as we do this and as the water is moving throughout the system, you may uh smell some odors coming from that material because it is uh as it mixes with uh lower pH water, it will off gas.

[00:17:23]Um we as the Environmental Protection Agency does have monitors throughout the city to detect for any uh potential hazards. Uh and there has been no threats or no concerns uh at this time.

[00:17:36]I with that I will hand it over to uh Anna who will take any questions.

[00:17:47]>> Good afternoon. I'm Anna Eisenman uh PIO for this incident with the Department of Ecology. I'm going to facilitate the Q&A. We have about 20 minutes for questions. Um I'm going to move left to right. If you could just say your name and the uh uh outlet that you are with.

[00:18:02]Yes.

[00:18:02]>> Bever News. My colleague and I went across the facility to the Columbia River and we smelled a very strong stench. Is it safe for people to get into the Columbia River? How far has the white liquor gotten? And what are the impacts on the ecosystem short and long term even though water is being flushed into that river?

[00:18:20]>> Um I'm going to hand this one off to our uh to Brooks here with the EPA.

[00:18:26]>> Yeah, thanks thanks for the question.

[00:18:27]I'll see if I can remember. There are several parts to it. Um, for one, uh, it's our understanding that, uh, there was a little bit of white liquor that reached the Columbia River in the first minutes of the response, but that outfall that where that uh, white liquor escaped was immediately shut off. So, our understanding, and we don't know the exact volume that was released, but we it's our understanding was it was very limited in the initial hour of of the in the incident.

[00:18:56]It is safe to swim and fish in the Columbia River right now. There's no there are no warnings or advisories at this time. So, um, and did I get all of your questions?

[00:19:06]>> What are the short-term and long-term impacts of the contamination that's already occurred in Slooh Water and wherever else?

[00:19:12]>> Yeah, I mean, it's hard to tell when you're you're really just trying focused on containment first and and protecting people. Um, but we understand the short-term impacts when you're talking about a costic liquid, a liquid with high pH, is that it's going to be uh deadly with fish. And we have observed that there are some dead fish in the um the ditch network. We're we're seeing that and we expect to see more of it. Um long-term, we're evaluating that right now with some of our our fish and wildlife agencies to see what that might be. I think we believe that um our our primary focus is the impact of pH and pH tends to be a short-term acute um impact, but we we may not know everything. We're still looking at a at a couple of things that that might have longerterm impacts, but I don't we we don't know have all the answers at this time.

[00:20:06]>> Quick follow.

[00:20:10]>> What is the baseline pH for the Colombia?

[00:20:15]>> About seven.

[00:20:16]It's about seven. Thank you. I thought it was seven.

[00:20:21]>> Yes, please.

[00:20:22]>> John Capel, ABC News. You've talked about recovering six bodies. What's the process, the difficulties, and the likelihood of recovering them?

[00:20:34]>> So, could you repeat the question one more time? It was the >> uh John Capell, ABC News. You've uh talked about recovering six bodies. What is the process likelihood of difficulty to recovering the other three?

[00:20:46]>> Uh right now um the difficulty the the scene is very complex. It still continues to be uh a highly complex industrial hazard. Um we are continuously locking out, tagging out uh and isolating hazardous conditions for us as we make entries in and recover uh victims and pre-planning for the next time that we make entries.

[00:21:15]It's very labor intensive and it takes a lot of personnel and so we can only make entries into these areas so many times in a day and it's very few. Um so uh we are confident we're going to move forward. We're um I feel we're making good advancements with uh being able to recover six so far and after this press conference we'll continue um our recover efforts for the rest of our operational period.

[00:21:41]>> Is there any likelihood you won't be able to recover?

[00:21:43]>> I'm not sure that I could answer that.

[00:21:45]We are slowly working our way into this scene from the way we've described it in the earlier as sort of a blast site or a site or uh some catastrophic event has happened. So we're slowly making our way through that as it's safe for responders to get further into the scene.

[00:22:05]>> Julia Lopez with Fox 12. And this might be for you again. What has communication been like for those families of those who are still missing or undercovered?

[00:22:13]We've heard from some that are navigating a lot of misinformation, that's for sure.

[00:22:20]>> So, uh, earlier today, I know that they've been meeting with the families on a regular basis, um, at the AEW PPPW hall, um, to update them as soon as possible, to give them the notifications. I know the corner's office is working diligent and trying to make sure that they get the information as soon as possible. So, I think that communication has been pretty effective for the families. Um, you know, we're working, we always can do better with communication. We're working uh diligently to ensure that every message we give is accurate and timely and appropriate and uh they're notified first. That's that's the objective.

[00:23:04]>> Haskins with KJW News again as well. And it's maybe sound redundant, but recovery of six. Two uh said uh confirmed fatalities yesterday. Total number is eight, right? Of of confirmed fatalities. Just want to make sure we have the correct number.

[00:23:22]>> That's accurate. Yes.

[00:23:23]>> Okay. Do you have visuals on the other three or are they outside of your view?

[00:23:28]Because of the limited scope you're able to see.

[00:23:33]>> Yeah. In reference to the remaining three that we're trying to find, they're just outside of our uh as far as we've made entry for today and what our scope is for that time being to that 2:00 hour when we left that um when I left that scenario. So, our crews are rehabbing right now. They have to decontaminate every time that they leave that area because of the hazards that are still there. And then they should be rested and ready for me when we go back. and then we will explore further in um to the scene >> later tonight >> as soon as we're done here >> rel relatedly Aaron West of the New York Times I was wondering are you able to access the site and that's why you're not able to like recover the missing identities or is it because they um >> yeah they've been um like is it the toxicity of the site itself? It's the industrial hazards. We run into electrical hazards, hazardous materials.

[00:24:34]Um, we have collapse. We have, we talked about the tank and a zone we've created outside of that that we feel comfortable working in so we don't get, you know, um, injured from if there was some other sort of failure. And so we work with subject matter experts, uh, the engineers for example, to determine buildings are safe that have damage to them for us to access. So, we have to go in, videotape, look at those, give those to engineers to say it's safe for us to go inside of those. Um, or just the hazmat in general. You're It's already complex to begin with, and when you put a toxic chemical involved, it makes it even more difficult for us.

[00:25:14]>> Got also curious, is the plant operation still? What are the status of the >> Does anybody want Are they still being paid?

[00:25:24]I don't know that I'm going to get into that, but I will say that on an industrial site Oh, I'm sorry, Greg.

[00:25:30]Somebody pointed me to that. Brian, question.

[00:25:36]>> Uh, again, Brian Wood, director of support services, NEPON Dino Wave. I think I heard the question, but could you repeat it, please?

[00:25:42]>> Sure. I was wondering what the status of the plant operations as they are currently and if uh workers are still there and being paid or if it's completely shut down and kind of what uh that stat looks like. So after the event we shut down the pt mill um did that in a way that allows it to be safely shut down. We are currently operating some critical infrastructure including the effent treatment system with a minimum staffing. We've made arrangements to pay people who are not working today because of this incident and we'll continue to do so and make further decisions as we go forward. But right now critical infrastructure specifically the efflin treatment system is working and is being staffed.

[00:26:27]>> And and one more related question I'm sorry um is is there a family assistance center set up or like mental health resources being uh provided for the >> I know we have worked closely with AWP to provide an assistance and reunification center. Um, we have family assistance available as a routine part of our efforts and our work here on the site.

[00:26:53]>> If I may follow up on that, we've been getting calls and emails from people saying public safety has been an issue at this plant. Is that a fair assessment?

[00:27:05]>> We work in a highly hazardous atmosphere and a highly hazardous industry. We approach it with the utmost care in everything that we do. Um, I'll let the facts speak for themselves.

[00:27:19]>> Uh, thank you. We're down to our last couple minutes and I want to make sure that we have some local media have a chance here. Uh, if we could jump over to this side, please.

[00:27:37]Yeah, I mean the question was where exactly were the six bodies found? And the six bodies were found in the workers area. As we talked before, this was at a shift change. And so it was an area for where they would congregate in the mornings before they would go um assem where they would assemble, find out their assignments, and go to their workplace. And so that's where that's where they are.

[00:28:03]with Fox 13 in Seattle. Uh curious if you could give us some insights to how many people are on well water here for one and then what you would say to people who live along the city network there where that water has an elevated pH level maybe concerned that this was even anywhere near their house.

[00:28:19]>> Thank you. Um I'm going to have >> uh yes thank you. So, uh, the city's, uh, uh, regional water treatment plant services approximately 65,000 people, uh, including residents of the city of Long View, uh, neighboring jurisdiction with which is Beacon Hill Water Sewer District, uh, and, um, some non uh, unincorporated Kletz County residents, uh, that are on the city of Long Beach's water system. So, uh, the ditches, um, as Brook stated early earlier, literally run through people's backyards in some cases. Um, so, uh, I don't know the exact number of households that are adjacent to those ditches, but it is a a fairly large number.

[00:29:02]>> And so what would you say to people who live in those homes come through?

[00:29:06]>> Keep keep away from the water. Um, don't let your pets swim in it until we give the go-ahad, uh, which we hope to do soon. Um, and you may smell some some odors that smell like rotten eggs, which is offging or potential offging of the the uh uh material.

[00:29:23]>> But were they notified that this was even behind or near their homes >> as as much as we can um through all of the media outlets through the incident command? Yes.

[00:29:31]>> If someone accidentally falls into one of these creeks, what what should they do?

[00:29:36]>> Uh wash off as quick as possible.

[00:29:38]>> Yep.

[00:29:40]>> There's no risk of them getting chemical burn. I I would I would wash off and then seek medical attention just to be safe.

[00:29:49]>> Question for you.

[00:29:52]This is going to be for the EPA. you found that this facility has a violation agency. Um, is that something that you're taking into consideration as you address all this or investigate this incident?

[00:30:05]>> Um, well uh the the EPA has several different programs that interface with this this facility and um there is a a program that mostly focuses on the the the tanks containing chlorine gas and the way that they safely manage those.

[00:30:22]Uh we did talk with the uh the pro the inspectors from that program as we mobilized down here to both understand where they were in proximity with this operation to make sure that they weren't involved or there weren't weren't any safety issues associated with that. But I didn't really go into past inspections, safety violations or anything. Um it because it really didn't have anything to do with this response.

[00:30:48]Our focus really right now is mitigating the hazards. Um, and so I I really can't speak any further to past inspections, but but there will be some follow-up investigations by by other programs in my agency and other agencies >> on mitigating the hazards. Why is dilution the best strategy? Are there other ways to contain the white liquor?

[00:31:08]>> Well, yeah. Well, containment is the first best strategy and we are doing that on the site to make sure that no additional white liquor makes it off the site into the ditch. So, you're you're right. containment is is the best strategy first and we're doing that. Um at what but now we we know that we already have white liquor in the ditches, right? So what is what is it?

[00:31:29]What are our options there? and they're really flushing, diluting. And if we need to, if we start to see sustained pH levels above the the levels we want, we can do some neutralization using some just some basic acids to bring that pH down in a safe way.

[00:31:48]>> Has there been any headway to investigating any?

[00:31:54]>> No. And that's not my role as an EPA emergency responder. Um there we do have members of the chemical safety board on site as well as the Washington Department of Labor and Industries and they are the ones that are getting ready and already beginning an investigation and getting ready the the interior part of this plant is is safe for them to enter and begin their investigation.

[00:32:21]>> We have time for one or two more questions.

[00:32:24]expecting more updates in the coming days. Are you going to do this again tomorrow?

[00:32:31]>> Yes, the current plan, we will be releasing an additional press release tonight around 5:30. There will also be another press conference tomorrow. Uh the time of that will be determined at a later time. Uh but we'll send a media alert out when that's scheduled. What's the status of the people who are hospitalized?

[00:32:47]>> All right, you've been listening to a live news conference from officials in Long View updating the aftermath of that chemical tank blast the Deon Dino Wave plant on Tuesday morning. So about 55 hours in here, you heard a lot about environmental concerns and monitoring air and water quality. What I want to bring it back to and focus on here is the victims in this tragedy. Right, we know that 11 are presumed dead. They were looking for nine bodies within the plant. And we have learned in the last few minutes that they have recovered the remains of six of those nine. That means three remain somewhere in the plant.

[00:33:19]They say the fire chief there saying they're treating them with care, with dignity and respect. The human remains.

[00:33:25]These are people's loved ones. Remember, have to go through decontamination.

[00:33:30]They're taken to the corner that does ID and family notification. The goal there to notify families first. If it were my loved one, I'd want to know first, right? Uh Matt Amos with Long View Fire describing this process as incredibly difficult given what you see with the scale of the destruction there. He talks about how the scene is complex. They're going to be going this afternoon and evening working in a essentially a a break room of sorts or an area where workers would gather when they start their shift. He talks about electrical hazards, hazmat situations, collapse, pieces of metal down, uh saying that they will take do this as long as it takes, declining to ask, declining to answer a question if they think they will not be able to recover those.

[00:34:11]Reading between the lines, it sounds like they are on the right track and optimistic they can bring all of those remains home and return them to their family members. In terms of environment, officials being clear, air quality monitoring, no issue. The water system for Long View, no issue. They continue to flush the ditches and dikes with that white liquor chemical, that alkaline chemical to get that down to a safe pH level and into the Colombia, the safest place for it to be at this point. Again, the bottom line, 11 people presumed dead, six of nine bodies recovered from the Nepon Dino Wave plant in Long View.

[00:34:48]Of course, stay with KGW for continuing coverage over the evening hours. I want to hand it over to Tim Gordon now for KGW News at