More Pamplin Money Woes Surface in Court Records

Ross Island Sand & Gravel didn’t bother defending itself in court.

Vegetation reclaiming portions of former Ross Island Sand & Gravel's Drymix concrete plant. (Brian Burk)
By Nigel Jaquiss

Evidence of severe financial troubles at the R.B. Pamplin Corp. continues to pop up in the public record.

On Dec. 12, Petrocard, a Washington supplier of fuels and petroleum products, registered a judgment for $419,000 in Multnomah County Circuit Court against Ross Island Sand & Gravel, a Pamplin Corp. subsidiary. The judgment originated in King County, Wash., where Petrocard sued Ross Island last year.

Emails attached to the lawsuit show Ross Island repeatedly failed to make promised payments and also defaulted on a payment plan to which Ross Island officials agreed. Company officials were apologetic but cited Ross Island’s “financial situation” for nonpayment.

When Petrocard sued in King County, Ross Island didn’t bother defending itself in court, which left the company owing legal fees and interest, as well as the cost of the fuel.

The nonpayment follows a string of other examples of the decline of an empire that once placed Robert Pamplin Jr. on the Forbes list of the 400 wealthiest Americans. More recently, records show, he has been dumping low-value industrial land into his company’s pension fund in exchange for cash to stay afloat (“Walking on Water,” WW, Dec. 6, 2023).

Pamplin officials did not respond to a request for comment.

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