WASHINGTON (From news reports) -- Toxic and highly corrosive chemicals - similar to those spilled in the fatal disaster at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging mill late last month - are leaking out of another pulp mill some 90 miles to the northwest, federal records show.

This second mill, Cosmo Specialty Fibers, has been closed and degrading for years, accumulating millions of dollars in fines from state and federal agencies. The mill has a longer and more severe history of environmental violations than the Nippon Dynawave facility.

Regulators have repeatedly warned of the dangers growing at this site in Cosmopolis, Grays Harbor County, near Aberdeen, including the potential for a "catastrophic release, which could threaten those on the site, the environment and public health. This mill used a heavily acidic cocktail, as opposed to the strong alkaline mix used by Nippon in Longview. But risks to people and the environment remain the same. Already one intruder has suffered chemical burns in Cosmopolis.

In the nearly two weeks since the Longview disaster, which killed 11 people and injured eight, the nature of the risks looming at Cosmo is becoming more clear. While there are a few key differences between the sites, combined they illustrate how harmful these chemicals can be when a facility fails or degrades.

As mills like these grow older across Washington, they face a complicated future. Financial pressures in the industry, which has broadly declined in the region over the past few decades, must compete with the costs for maintenance, upkeep and regulations targeting the facilities themselves and the chemicals they use.

The regulatory landscape may grow rockier in the wake of the Longview disaster. Not only are investigators pushing to learn precisely what happened there, but regulators are scrambling to rein in problems in Cosmopolis, and other communities around Washington, like Port Townsend, are taking a closer look at the mills in their own backyards and wondering whether they're at risk, too.

At the same time, state and federal regulators are often limited in their scope and power to force changes as problems arise. Fines for violations are often nominal, and sometimes mill owners fight their authority.

That type of battle is playing out on Cosmo's grounds, and new details about the risks and environmental hazards emerged after the Environmental Protection Agency finished a site evaluation report in February, which the Seattle Times obtained through a public record request.

Cosmo Specialty Fibers

Once the largest employer and single greatest source of tax revenue in Cosmopolis, Cosmo Specialty Fibers closed in 2022, and its current owner, English businessman Richard Bassett, has been struggling to reopen it ever since.

Unlike Nippon Dynawave, which makes paper products, Cosmo is a pulp mill that produces cellulose, which is essential for everyday items like aspirin, phone and computer screens, fabrics and cosmetics.

The aging mill sits in a state of disrepair. Bassett has repeatedly failed or refused to make fixes, maintain water supply or electricity. He also continues to flout the state's greenhouse gas emissions standards under the Climate Commitment Act. In recent years, regulators have grown more aggressive, even fining the mill $2.3 million in September. But Bassett is also fighting these bills.

Many of the tanks at Cosmo are leaking acid, giving rise to a "potential catastrophic release," the EPA's acting regional administrator wrote in January. So is a 42-inch wooden pipeline that runs for 2.5 miles beneath the site and a series of sludge ponds near the Chehalis River. At least 16 leaks have been found along this pipeline, including some in residential neighborhoods.

Investigators found active chemical leaks at the mill, evidence of past leaks, insufficient or nonexistent backup containment measures, and "extensive rust and corrosion on storage tanks, piping and valves," the agency's February report shows.

Around 727,000 gallons of hazardous chemicals have been identified, the report says, but the precise nature of an additional 1.7 million gallons remains unclear.

Hundreds of thousands of gallons either have a pH balance of less than 2, indicating that it's highly acidic, or greater than 12, meaning it's highly alkaline, the report says. Investigators discovered at least eight active leaks, one dumping as much as 45 gallons of chemicals a day.

EPA officials attempted to plug some of the leaks but have been unsuccessful, according to their report. Some of the leaking metal is so brittle that "small pinhole leaks would form with very little pressure being applied (i.e., touching with a gloved hand)."

Acids and bases

The most severe leaks at Cosmo Specialty Fibers involve what's called a "sulfite liquor" from the mill's tanks, the EPA documents indicate. This liquor likely holds compounds like sulfur dioxide and sulfurous acid, said Marissa Baker, an associate professor of occupational health at the University of Washington.

Mills like this one use acids to break down wood chips to extract pulp or cellulose they need. After this, the mix takes on a reddish hue and people in the industry call it a "red liquor." It can either be recycled and used again or burned to generate electricity at the site.

Nippon Dynawave used what's called a "white liquor," which is a solution including sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide. This is an alkaline solution, on the opposite side of the pH scale. Once it's used, it turns dark, hence its name: "black liquor."

Both the acidic and alkaline are extremely dangerous.

Burns from white liquor are, in some ways, more painful than burns from a flame, said Stephen Kmiotek, a chemical engineering expert and professor at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. These chemicals, hundreds of thousands of gallons of which spilled in Longview, are about 10,000 times stronger than the ammonia solution you can buy in a grocery store.

If the chemicals are spilled on humans, flesh, fatty tissue, muscles, eyes and lungs are particularly vulnerable, Baker said.

Acid solutions like those leaking at Cosmo are just as successful eating away at skin, Baker said.

In large quantities both can easily be fatal, the professors said. Not to mention, they're both harmful to the environment. In Longview, white liquor made its way into the Columbia River - and the Cosmopolis mill sits very close to the Chehalis River.

Generally, Kmiotek said, these spills lead to localized contamination. The chemicals aren't likely to explode or catch fire. Nor are they likely to penetrate into the groundwater and spread prolifically like oil might. Still, any organic matter (like skin, plants and animals) that comes into contact with them will be burned.

While the EPA's analysis did not outline plans for a possible failure at Cosmo, the agency's strategy, or the state's, for that matter, might mirror that of the Longview spill. This includes diluting acidic or alkaline chemicals with fresh water and using vacuum trucks to collect and dispose of it at treatment plants.

Key differences

Mass fatalities aren't as likely in Cosmopolis since the mill is closed and far fewer people, if any, are on site daily.

Even so, dozens of cases of trespassing, vandalism, theft and burglary have been reported on the property in recent years, the EPA report says. In one case, officials noted "a perpetrator reportedly receiving chemical burns after intentionally releasing a strong caustic chemical." Hundreds or even thousands of gallons of these chemicals were spilled in the process, the report continues.

This winter Bassett, Cosmo's owner, said the mill would no longer be able to provide security for the site, the EPA analysis says. This is because staff had not been paid, so on Feb. 26, the remaining security guards "abandoned the facility after locking the main gate, the analysis continues.

Having people on site, like in Longview, creates a level of protection, Kmiotek said. This way major spills can be reported and contained immediately. A large spill at Cosmo might not be caught or reported for some time.

Bassett, who visits his mill intermittently, did not reply to questions about whether he welcomes regular inspections or whether he has workers passing through regularly to ensure conditions haven't worsened.

Acids, including those leaking at Cosmo, can also eat away at the containers in which they're held, Kmiotek said. Investigators with the EPA noted evidence of this in their site evaluation.

For defunct mills like Cosmo, owners can often mitigate these risks by selling off their hazardous chemicals to other mills, Kmiotek said.

Bassett, however, hopes to restart his mill and told The Times he's not interested in parting with his chemicals.

"I did not buy Cosmopolis to sell bits and pieces," he wrote in a text message Tuesday.

In 2024, EPA officials broached with him the topic of removing the chemicals, and he pushed back then, too.

"I remind you that I am the owner and that all of the materials that you are seeking to remove belong to me," he wrote in an email to federal regulators. "There has been no proof whatsoever that any of these materials pose a health and safety risk to anyone, because of the very small quantities held in the lab."

Of the dozens of tanks on site, some hold fewer than 1,000 gallons of chemicals, the EPA analysis shows. Dozens more store 10 or even a hundred times as much. At least one tank holds more than 100,000 gallons, which could fill a circular container about 40 feet in diameter and nearly 11 feet deep.

Broader concerns

Cosmo Specialty Fibers isn't the only mill turning heads. Port Townsend resident David Ginsburg watched news unfold of the Longview disaster and wondered if the Port Townsend Paper Co., not far from his home, might also present a risk.

Washington's Department of Ecology records show that this mill reported a black liquor leak in April, though they do not elaborate on the quantity spilled. The department also fined the mill $20,000 late last year for spilling more than 100,000 gallons of wastewater into Port Townsend Bay.

Officials with the Port Townsend Paper Co. could not immediately be reached for comment.

Ginsburg said he's not hoping to shut the mill down; rather, he wants to see more transparency from the company and local regulators alongside stronger rules to protect the health and safety of workers, nearby residents and the environment. In the days since the Longview disaster he has been writing public officials and so far one Jefferson County commissioner has responded, saying they intend to look deeper into the matter.