The Washington Department of Ecology said it has no inspection records for the failed tank.
“Other than the spill control and stormwater pollution prevention plans noted previously, the agency does not regulate white liquor tanks,” Andrew Wineke, the agency’s deputy communications director, wrote in an email.
The Washington Department of Labor and Industries, the state’s workplace-safety agency, said prior inspections at Nippon Dynawave, going back to 2016, focused on other safety issues.
Reviewing structural inspection, maintenance, engineering or hazard-assessment records for the failed tank “would have been outside the scope of what we were there to look at,” L&I spokesperson Matt Ross wrote.
Ross said Nippon Dynawave still had a legal duty to address tank risks.
“State law in Washington requires every employer, including pulp and paper mills, to assess the unique hazards on their job site and make sure they are taking steps to address them to keep their workers safe on the job,” Ross wrote. “That includes tanks like this one.”