Nippon Dynawave Packaging has started preparatory work aimed at restarting its Longview, Washington, pulp and paper mill, nearly three months after a May 26 white-liquor tank failure disrupted normal operations.

Crews began dismantling and removing three out-of-service tanks on August 17, including the damaged white-liquor tank. The company also plans to install temporary storage tanks for white liquor and black liquor, both of which are essential to kraft pulping and chemical recovery.

The temporary tanks are specifically intended to support an operational restart, providing the clearest indication so far that Nippon Dynawave is moving from damage assessment toward restoring production.

A date for full mill operations, however, has not yet been announced.

Temporary Tanks Could Enable a Phased Restart

White liquor and black liquor play central roles in kraft pulp production.

White liquor is used in the cooking process to separate lignin from wood fibers, while black liquor contains dissolved lignin and spent pulping chemicals that are subsequently processed through the chemical recovery system.

Damage to liquor-storage infrastructure can therefore interrupt production even when the primary pulp and paper machines remain mechanically intact.

By staging temporary tanks, Nippon Dynawave could potentially re-establish enough chemical-handling capability to resume parts of the mill before permanent storage infrastructure is fully restored.

The company has not said whether the restart would occur in stages or whether all production areas would return simultaneously.

Major Production Equipment Reportedly Avoided Severe Damage

An important factor in the restart outlook is the condition of the mill’s core production assets.

Nippon Paper previously reported that no severe damage had been confirmed to major equipment, including:

• pulp-making machinery
• boilers
• paper machines
• extruders

That distinction matters because replacing or extensively repairing major production equipment could significantly extend an outage.

If those assets remain serviceable, the recovery effort can focus more heavily on damaged tanks, chemical handling and supporting infrastructure.

The exact condition of individual systems and any inspection or commissioning requirements have not been disclosed.

Tank Removal Began August 17

The current work includes removal of three tanks that have been taken out of service.

The damaged white-liquor tank is among them.

Removing compromised equipment is an important step before permanent repairs or replacements can proceed, while temporary tanks provide an interim route for handling the mill’s chemical streams.

For the industry, the next meaningful milestone will therefore not simply be completion of demolition work.

It will be commissioning of the temporary chemical-storage system and confirmation that pulp production can resume safely.

Longview Mill Is a Major Nippon Paper Asset

Nippon Dynawave Packaging is a subsidiary of Nippon Paper and operates an integrated pulp and paper facility in Longview.

The site produces kraft pulp and fiber-based packaging products, with an important presence in liquid packaging applications.

Approximately 1,000 people are employed at the operation, making the mill an important industrial employer in the region and a significant part of Nippon Paper’s North American production network.

An extended shutdown therefore affects not only mill output but also employees, suppliers, logistics providers and customers dependent on products manufactured at Longview.

Restart Timing Remains the Key Unknown

The latest work is a positive operational signal, but it should not be interpreted as confirmation that full production is imminent.

Nippon Dynawave has not provided a restart date, production ramp-up schedule or expected timeline for permanent tank replacement.

For now, the situation can be summarized more precisely:

the mill is preparing the infrastructure needed for a restart, but the timing and scale of resumed production remain uncertain.

The next developments to watch are the installation and commissioning of temporary white- and black-liquor storage, followed by any announcement specifying when pulp and paper operations will restart.

If core production equipment is indeed largely undamaged, the temporary chemical-handling system could become the critical bridge between the May incident and a phased return to normal operations.

Last Updated on 26/08/2026 by Jota Machinery