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The three-alarm fire that sent smoke billowing from Ross Island on July 20 may be the least of Robert Pamplin Jr.’s problems.
An email WW obtained under a public records request shows federal Department of Labor investigators are probing the tangled finances of the shrinking Pamplin empire. (Pamplin Communications sold its 24 Oregon newspapers last month.)
As WW previously reported, Robert Pamplin sold Ross Island from Ross Island Sand & Gravel to the Pamplin pension fund for $10.8 million in an unusual 2022 transaction that left the fund holding an asset Pamplin previously argued in court had no value and which is still subject to an expensive, unfinished reclamation plan. (The Department of Labor regulates pension funds.)
On May 2, David Wehr, a DOL investigator in Seattle, wrote to the state seeking information about Ross Island Sand & Gravel’s obligation to post a $6 million bond to ensure completion of the reclamation project.
“We would like to know if the bond has been provided, how the amount of the bond was determined and what liabilities exist if the bond is not established,” Wehr wrote. The company has failed to post the bond and faces a $2.9 million state penalty for that failure.
DOL and Pamplin representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
Bob Sallinger, executive director of Willamette Riverkeeper, has said for years Pamplin should turn over Ross Island to a responsible custodian.
“This fire just speaks to the neglect that’s occurring,” Sallinger says. “Dr. Pamplin made a lot of money mining Ross Island. He owes it to the public to resolve these issues and make the community whole.”