Explosion at Nippon Dynawave Packaging plant in Longview, Washington kills one and injures nine

An explosion occurred at a chemical tank at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging plant in Longview, Washington, on May 26, 2026. The tank contained white liquor, a mixture of sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide used to break down wood chips in pulp production. The incident killed one person and injured nine others, including nine company employees and one firefighter, with injuries ranging from minor to critical. Nippon Dynawave Packaging is a subsidiary of Nippon Paper Group and produces about 8 billion disposable food containers annually. The cause of the explosion has not been determined.