The chemical tank that collapsed in late May, killing 11 people at a paper mill in Longview, Washington, was being worked on and scheduled for replacement at the time of the incident, according to statements from staff at the facility released by the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office. Multiple employees of Nippon Dynawave Packaging Company said they noticed scaffolding around the tank, indicating some work was being done on it. A maintenance supervisor at Nippon Dynawave told a deputy the tank “was scheduled to be replaced sometime next year.” The exact reasons why the 900,000-gallon chemical tank was being serviced and slated for replacement are unknown. …Nippon Dynawave spokesperson Sam Jefferies declined to comment when asked about the statements from paper mill employees about the tank’s condition and scheduled replacement. “At this time, we will not speculate about the root cause without the full facts,” he said in the statement.