Last remaining Nippon workers' remains recovered

One of the last remaining workers missing inside Longview's Nippon pulp and paper mill after a chemical spill has been recovered, according to a worker's daughter.

Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help

Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to The Daily News.

Brooke Iverson of Yelm said the Cowlitz County Coroner told her that her dad, Norman Barlow, had been recovered as of Saturday afternoon.

At a 3:30 p.m. press conference outside the Industrial Way mill, Longview Fire Chief Brad Hannig said the other remaining missing worker had also been recovered.

Barlow, an electrician, had been missing since the Tuesday morning tank rupture that spilled an estimated 500,000 gallons of a caustic chemical called white liquor used in the papermaking process.

Her father was a hard worker everyone could count on, Iverson said. He had only worked at the Longview plant for 90 days, she said.

"It should have never happened," she added.

The family was not invited into the press conference and waited outside the fence. Hannig said during the press conference that only media representatives were invited, out of no disrespect for the affected families.

Family

The family of deceased Nippon electrician Norman Barlow stands outside the mill's plant on Friday, May 30, as a press conference begins.

Cowlitz County Coroner Dana Tucker said 11 total workers had died from the spill, including 58-year-old Barlow. All had been identified and family notified.

When her office learned of the spill, Tucker said she knew the community hadn't faced such a mass-casualty scene since the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.

She named the workers her office identified. The youngest was 26; the oldest was Barlow.

Her staff used multiple ways to identify workers in order to notify family. Each recovered worker will now go through a forensic identification process, Tucker added, which could include reviewing dental records, for example.

Lifting heavy items to recover workers

Kurt Stitch, with Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue, said crews on Friday continued to work in indoor areas, littered with desks, large cabinets and other debris.

Crews also continued to use drones to inspect areas they couldn't reach on the ground.

"It was very difficult," he said. "There were heavy items to be moved, and they had to continually inspect the area."

Scott Tift, president of the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers, thanked the public for its support of the workers. He asked that donations for affected families be sent directly to www.cwclc.org.

"As someone who lives here and knows many of these families, I want to acknowledge the extraordinary outpouring of love and support this community has shown over the past several days," he said during the press conference. "People from across this region and across the country have stepped up in ways that have been deeply meaningful to our members and their families during the darkest moments of their lives.

... These were not just employees or union members. They were fathers, sons, friends, mentors, and coworkers who helped build this facility and this community every single day."

Message

A message was left outside the Nippon pulp and paper mill following the Tuesday fatal chemical spill at the Longview plant.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with the latest information.

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.