位于华盛顿州的Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co.纸浆厂在5月发生化学储罐坍塌事故，造成11名工人丧生1，这是近几十年来美国最致命的工作场所事故之一。调查记录显示，该厂长期存在严重的安全和维护问题。州环保部自2016年以来已向公司发出54份环境违规通知并处以41,500美元罚款1。州劳工部自2018年以来调查了12起以上安全投诉，罚款近7,000美元1。此外，自2015年以来已有169名员工因工伤获得超240万美元的工伤赔偿1。
联邦化学品安全委员会的报告指出，公司数月前就已知晓该储罐"不适合继续使用"，但仍继续操作1。3月时一名员工投诉了氨澄清罐阀门手柄脱离的问题，州部门计划在5月26日进行视察但因事故中断，最终对此罚款2,890美元1。该厂还存在多起化学物泄漏事件，包括2017年至2023年间向美国环保署国家应急中心报告的8起甲基硫醇泄漏1，以及2020年一次超过250,000加仑的黑液泄漏超出防控区域并污染砾石1。4月一名员工因堵塞的排水阀在热浆中跌落沟渠，被困35至40秒1。死者的母亲已对该公司提起过失致死诉讼1。
A catastrophic chemical storage tank collapse at Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. in Washington state killed eleven workers in May, marking one of the deadliest workplace accidents in recent American history 1. Investigation records uncovered a troubling pattern of safety failures and regulatory violations at the facility, prompting renewed scrutiny of how the company managed hazardous operations.
The state Department of Ecology had issued fifty-four environmental violation notices to the company since 2016, with penalties totaling forty-one thousand five hundred dollars 1. Meanwhile, the state Department of Labor investigated more than twelve safety complaints since 2018, resulting in fines approaching seven thousand dollars 1. Over the past nine years, one hundred sixty-nine employees received workers' compensation exceeding two point four million dollars for workplace injuries 1. The federal Chemical Safety Board determined that the company had known for months that the tank was "unsuitable for continued service" yet continued operating it anyway 1.
Specific incidents documented prior to the fatal collapse illustrate the hazards workers faced. In March, an employee reported that an ammonia clarification tank valve handle had detached, prompting a planned inspection for May 26 that never occurred due to the disaster; that case resulted in a two thousand eight hundred ninety dollar fine 1. An April 9 incident saw one worker trapped for thirty-five to forty seconds in a hot pulp ditch after falling through a blocked drainage valve 1. Between 2017 and 2023, the EPA National Response Center received eight reports of methyl mercaptan leaks from the site 1. In 2020, a spill of two hundred fifty thousand gallons of black liquor exceeded containment barriers and contaminated gravel areas 1. The mother of one of the deceased workers has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the company 1.
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