Nippon Dynawave mill in Longview, Washington, faces $77,800 in fines from the state Department of Labor & Industries after an April 2026 incident in which an employee nearly became engulfed in pulp heated to 145 degrees Fahrenheit while trying to close an open drain valve.
The worker waded through three feet of hot pulp that covered a four-foot sinkhole on the mill floor. When he stepped down to the ground, he fell into the sinkhole. If he had not grabbed onto nearby piping, inspectors said he would have been completely submerged in more than seven feet of pulp.
About 3,400 gallons of pulp per minute flowed from the tank valve, and the spill continued for approximately two hours. Tank pulp typically ranges from 125 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
The company was cited for failing to protect workers from exposure to the extremely hot material and from the hazard of being engulfed by it. The state also cited Nippon Dynawave for failing to include the paper machine pulp system in a hazardous materials piping safety program as required.
Paper machine managers told state inspectors that spills of this kind occur once every couple of months or more frequently. They acknowledged being aware that workers routinely waded through pulp to open and close tank valves.
"The problem wasn't that the overspill happened, it's that Nippon management chose to send people into the pulp to deal with it," said Cari Anderson, deputy assistant director for L&I's Division of Occupational Safety and Health.
Since the incident, the company has agreed to instruct workers not to enter pulp spill areas in the future and to develop procedures and engineering controls to close valves without exposing employees. The investigation is separate from the state's ongoing investigation into a fatal tank failure at the same mill on May 26, 2026.