Insurance Daily News

Nippon Dynawave fined $77,800 after hot pulp incident

The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) issued a $77,800 citation to Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. after an employee nearly became engulfed in hot pulp at the company’s Longview, Washington mill. The incident occurred in April when a tank valve was left open, allowing pulp heated to 145 °F to spill onto the plant floor.

The spill created a sinkhole in the asphalt that was four feet deep, while the accumulating pulp reached a depth of three feet. The employee waded through the pulp, climbed onto nearby piping to close the valve, and then fell into the sinkhole. Inspectors reported he avoided being fully submerged in more than seven feet of pulp by grabbing a pipe and catching his foot on the sinkhole side before climbing out.

L&I cited the company for failing to protect workers from exposure to hot material and engulfment hazards, and for not including the paper-machine pulp system in a hazardous-materials piping safety program. Paper-machine managers told investigators that spills of this type occur once every few months and that workers have previously waded through pulp to operate tank valves.

Following the incident, Nippon Dynawave agreed to prohibit workers from entering pulp spill areas and to develop engineering controls and procedures for valve shutdowns that do not expose employees to hot material. The company has 15 days to appeal the citation. This fine follows an earlier $2,890 penalty in August for inadequate inspection records and a maintenance program for an ammonia wastewater-treatment tank, a separate investigation that began after a worker reported a broken valve handle.

The pulp incident is the second of two open investigations at the Longview mill. The first relates to the May 26 fatal tank rupture that killed 11 workers and released hundreds of thousands of gallons of chemicals, the deadliest industrial accident in Washington state history. Regulators have also opened inspections at Smurfit Westrock in Longview and Port Townsend Paper Co., focusing on tank maintenance, testing, operating procedures, repair records, and prior worker injuries.

Why it matters

The fines highlight gaps in safety programs that insurers must assess when underwriting pulp and paper facilities.

FAQ

What caused the employee to fall into the sinkhole?
The employee fell while descending after closing a valve that had been left open, causing hot pulp to spill into a four-foot-deep sinkhole.

How long did the pulp flow through the open valve?
Inspectors said pulp flowed through the open valve for about two hours.

What previous safety violations has Nippon Dynawave faced?
In August, L&I fined the company $2,890 for not maintaining required inspection records and a formal maintenance program for an ammonia tank used to treat wastewater.

Are the pulp incident and the fatal tank rupture related?
No, L&I stated the two investigations are not related to the fatal rupture that killed 11 workers.

Source: Insurance Journal. See the original source for full details.