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The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has filed a series of liens against Ross Island Sand & Gravel.
“DEQ filed the liens last month against Ross Island Sand and Gravel Co. for costs and expenses resulting from investigation and cleanup activities,” says Dylan Darling. “The costs total $156,811.38 dating back to 2019. DEQ has liens for this amount on four properties owned by the Ross Island.”
Filings show that DEQ placed the liens in late September on four tax lots that are part of the now shuttered Ross Island Sand & Gravel headquarters on Southeast McLoughlin Boulevard. Those liens were filed with the Multnomah County Recorder’s office Oct. 2.
As WW has previously reported, the owner of the Ross Island Sand & Gravel, Dr. Robert Pamplin, leased the headquarters property, which closed in 2019, to Portland Parks & Recreation. Parks is using the property as a storage and maintenance facility.
Related: Moribund Ross Island Sand & Gravel Headquarters Gets New Life
Ross Island Sand & Gravel hired Pacific Fence and Wire Company to fence the headquarters property so the city could store vehicles and equipment there. In 2023, Pacific Fence billed Ross Island a total of $370,493. Ross Island paid part of the tab but, according to a lawsuit, the Pamplin company failed to pay $152,595 of the total. Pacific Fence won a judgement for that amount and is still seeking payment.
Ross Island also faces a January hearing in front of a state administrative law judge over its failure to make adequate progress on its agreement with the Oregon Department of State Lands to reclaim the underwater and uplands portions of Ross Island. The company mined the bottom of the Willamette River from 1925 to 2001 and processed rock on the uplands. Under an agreement with DSL, which regulates the river bottom, the company was supposed to refill much of the river bottom and restore upland habitat. When it fell behind on its agreement, DSL levied a $2.9 million penalty, which Ross Island is contesting.
Related: A Pamplin Company Is Failing to Meet Its Obligations to Restore Ross Island Lagoon
Ross Island’s financial struggles are part of a larger problem afflicting the parent company, the R.B. Pamplin Corp. As WW has reported, Pamplin Jr., the company owner and CEO, resorted to selling and transferring more than 70 parcels of property, many of them unused and of questionable value, to an affiliated company pension fund. Pamplin did so in apparent violation of federal pension laws, according to a complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Labor in U.S. District Court in September.
Related: Federal Regulators Sue Robert Pamplin Jr. Over Massive Pension Fund Abuses
Pamplin could not be reached for comment.