Longview residents buy water, stay away from sloughs as Nippon cleanup continues
Shania Parker lives near the Mint Valley Golf Course and said she has walked the Pacific Way Trail almost every day since November.
Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help
Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to The Daily News.
Right after the May 26 chemical spill at the Nippon pulp and paper mill, about 3 miles southwest of the drainage ditch along the trail, she said she smelled rotten eggs on her walks.
On Monday, she noticed the drainage ditch was much lower than normal, and red algae had appeared.
All the changes have Parker concerned about the city's drinking water, despite official assurances of its safety.
Locals like Parker are questioning areas surrounding the Industrial Way plant as they recreate near waterways and drink city groundwater - particularly after thousands of fish were found dead in nearby drainage ditches.
The mill's drainage system spills into surrounding sloughs and then into the Columbia River. Crews have been diluting and flushing the water after its pH levels elevated from the caustic chemicals that seeped in, though that process ended Monday as discharge from the mill to the sloughs stopped.
Officials say most of the roughly 500,000 gallons of chemicals from the tank rupture are still on the site as the liquid is processed through the mill's wastewater treatment plant.
"How much of that is trickling down?" Parker asked. "How long until we see the effects?"
Shania Parker
Shania Parker, 30, of Longview walks the Pacific Way Trail on Monday, June 1 in Longview.
Buying more water
Typically, Parker said she buys jugs of distilled water to drink instead of tap water. Now she's buying more.
A Safeway spokesperson reported an increase in water sales at the Longview and Kelso locations as of Tuesday, but could not provide details on the amount.
Tony and Justice Martinez live on Eagle Loop, behind the Consolidated Diking Improvement District No. 1 office and the slough.
Justice Martinez said she smelled rotten eggs behind their home last week, though Longview Public Works Director Chris Collins says the odor isn't dangerous. It's actually a sign that the flushing to dilute and remove the contaminated water worked. The smell is caused by hydrogen sulfide, a byproduct released when the spilled chemicals are diluted, he said at a recent press conference.
How to help
Report sightings of dead or distressed fish or wildlife by calling 1-800-22-BIRDS.
Do not collect dead wildlife found in Longview sloughs, officials report.
Still, when the couple heard the spill had leaked into nearby drainage ditches, they said they bought more cases of bottled water than normal to make sure they had enough.
They're also keeping their three boys away from the slough.
"We're taking precautions because we have little ones," said Tony Martinez, as two of his kids rode bikes along the cul-de-sac on Monday.
Officials continue to ask people to avoid the sloughs; don't fish or let pets swim in them. If people come into contact with the water, they are advised to rinse off with clean water and seek medical attention if unusual symptoms develop.
The city's water supply remains safe. The system has safeguards to automatically shut off if contaminated, Collins said.
The contaminated water was also pushed away from Longview's wells, located near Nippon in the Mint Farm industrial park, to prevent it from seeping underground.
Monitoring pH levels in the water was set to continue on Wednesday, but has remained normal during recent tests, the latest notice states.
The caustic white liquor that spilled has a pH level of 13-14, according to the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, while neutral is 7.
Cherries
A man sells cherries along Coal Creek Road on Monday, June 1 in Longview. Across the street and a little north, a handful of dead fish floated in the water.
Low water levels
Crews stopped the flushing in the drainage ditches around Nippon on Monday, according to an update from the Washington State Department of Ecology and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Pumping of the drainage ditches has caused ditch No. 6 along the Pacific Way Trail to lower, said Washington State Department of Ecology spokesperson Scarlet Tang.
The water along the Pacific Way Trail was so low on Monday that a nutria was walking along the slough's bed instead of swimming. Fish could be seen regularly disturbing the water.
Nutria
A nutria stands in shallow water in the slough along the Pacific Way Trail on Monday, June 1 in Longview.
Those low levels are making the rust-colored, or red deposits of iron bacteria naturally found in the soil and groundwater more noticeable, said Tang. That's likely the red algae Parker saw and isn't related to the tank failure.
Slough
A rust-colored agae is seen on Monday, June 1, in the slough along the Pacific Way Trail in Longview.
Couple Nick Blagg and Julia Mitchell said they live about a mile from the Pacific Way Trail and also noticed the shallowness and the ramped-up carp splashing.
Trail
A sign for the Pacific Way trail is seen on Monday, June 1 near a station for Consolidated Diking District No. 1 in Longview.
The pair's home is connected to a well, but they didn't say how deep the system is compared to the city's aquifer, which is 200 feet below the surface.
In general, Mitchell said the spill has them concerned about local water and a little unsure about updates.
"Honestly, you're asking me questions I should think about more," she said when asked if she is drinking Longview water.
Fish
Fish disturb the surface of the water along the Pacific Way Trail slough on Monday, June 1 in Longview.
514 more dead fish reported
Though Parker, Mitchell and Blagg hadn't seen them, a little less than a mile north, about six dead fish floated to the top of the Pacific Way slough near Coal Creek Road.
That day, 177 dead fish had been collected in the drainage ditch system near the mill on Industrial Way and in Wast Longview, according to a notice.
Fish
A dead fish is seen east of Coal Creek Road on Monday, June 1 in Longview. Officials say the fish likely died closer to Nippon on Industrial Way, then moved through the drainage system.
The next day, 337 dead fish were collected.
That's a total of 2,450 dead fish, including common carp, catfish, sunfish, bass, peamouth chub, bridgelip sucker, northern pikeminnow, sculpin, and redside shiner, and two hatchery-raised salmon.
Crews added a gate to collect fish at the culvert east of Coal Creek Road, which overlooks Consolidated Diking District 1's area.
Culvert
Gates on culverts are seen east of Coal Creek Road on Monday, June 1 in Longview. Officials aim to use the gates to collect dead fish in the slough.
Many of the dead fish were collected there, likely because of the flushing to dilute and remove the contaminated water.
Jenifer McIntyre, an associate professor of aquatic toxicology at Washington State University, said she isn't surprised by the dead aquatic life seen immediately after the spill.
The white liquor "would have caused an acute increase to very high pH," she said in a statement.
But she also doesn't expect any long-term issues either.
Fish
A dead fish is seen east of Coal Creek Road on Monday, June 1 in Longview. Officials say the fish likely died closer to Nippon on Industrial Way, then moved through the drainage system.
The Columbia River also remains open for fishing and recreation, as Tuesday's pH levels from the ditch system remained normal. No fish or wildlife in the Columbia River have been impacted, the latest report says.
Still, most of those chemicals used in papermaking remain at the mill, as vacuum trucks continue to pump them out and process the liquid through Nippon's wastewater treatment plant.
Mitchell questioned whether people were aware of the possible effects of the spill.
She said signs around sloughs in the Highlands and further north on the Pacific Way Trail didn't warn people that the drainage ditches could be affected by the chemicals. Instead, they warned of increased pH levels, without linking that to the spill or explaining why the increase is an issue.
"Maybe people would be more cognizant if the messaging was clearer," she said.
Wildlife
A heron and duck are seen in the muddy water of the Pacific Way Trail slough on Monday, June 1 in Longview.
Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.
This story was originally published June 4, 2026 at 12:34 PM.