Island Of Doubt

Don't expect Ross Island to be transformed from a gravel pit into a city park anytime soon—if ever.

Sources close to the long-planned transaction tell WW that Ross Island's owner, Robert Pamplin Jr., has changed his mind about an earlier decision to give his environmentally damaged property to the City of Portland.

"Pamplin wants the city to assume all liabilities and maintenance costs, except for the current DEQ-mandated cleanup," says one source who requested anonymity because of ongoing negotiations. "The city can't do that."

Pamplin attorney Frank Cable would neither confirm nor deny this assessment.

"Arrangements with the city still have to be worked out," says Cable, a lawyer with the Miller Nash law firm. "The talks are ongoing."

In 2001, Pamplin, who owns Ross Island Sand and Gravel, pledged to give Ross Island and half of adjoining Hardtack Island to the city before then-Mayor Vera Katz ended her final term in 2004.

Ross Island Sand and Gravel mined the site, located in the Willamette River just south of the Ross Island Bridge, for more than 75 years, ending in 2001.

When mining ceased, Pamplin faced a requirement from the state Department of Environmental Quality that his company clean up Ross Island and repair damage done to its marine habitat. An earlier plan called for the company to replace up to 25 million cubic feet of fill into Ross Island's lagoon, which had been mined to a depth of 130 feet.

But in 2002, a panel chaired by City Commissioner Erik Sten and environmentalist Mike Houck jointly agreed with Ross Island to a different remediation program that would be far less expensive for Pamplin, owner of the Portland Tribune.

At the time, Houck says, Pamplin agreed to give the property to the city, along with an undetermined amount of money to cover future costs. The remediation program also needs approval by DEQ, which wants the site cleaned up by February 2008.

"Ross Island never committed any specific amount but definitely committed to an endowment of some size," says Houck, now director of the Urban Greenspaces Institute at Portland State University.

Ultimately, Katz's third term passed with no action on the island's hand-over. After Tom Potter became mayor in 2005, Ross Island continued negotiations with DEQ, but talks with the city about the specific terms of Pamplin's deal went dormant.

In recent weeks, rumors circulated around City Hall suggesting that the deal was dead. That jolted Potter's office into action.

"We heard those rumors and asked for a meeting," says Sara Culp, a policy manager and Potter's point person on Ross Island. Culp and Potter's chief of staff, Nancy Hamilton, met last week with Pamplin.

"His position is unclear," Culp says. "As far as we know, the offer [to give the city the property] is on the table, but we don't know the terms."

Houck says any reconsideration by Pamplin of prior commitments would be unacceptable.

"That is not at all consistent with the deal that was made," Houck says.

WWeek 2015