State fines Pamplin $13.9M for Ross Island cleanup

Published 6:56 pm Monday, March 9, 2026

State officials say Pamplin’s company has failed to begin required restoration work after decades of mining the Willamette River island

The state of Oregon is fining industrial tycoon Robert Pamplin Jr. nearly $14 million, after he failed to meet expectations restoring Ross Island, which his company mined for decades on the Willamette River.

In an 18-page letter sent to Pamplin last month, the Oregon Department of State Lands levied $13.9 million in fines after Pamplin failed to meet agreements he signed in 2023 to help restore Ross Island and backfill deep cuts to the bottom of the Willamette River.

The letter, first reported by Willamette Week and the Oregon Journalism Project, is part of a series of fines and fees the state has levied against Pamplin related to Ross Island restoration.

The Pamplin-owned Ross Island Sand & Gravel Company mined the island for years, but when operations ceased, Pamplin signed an agreement with the state in 2002 to refill some of the excavations and restore portions of the island. That agreement was revised in 2023, setting a firm deadline for completing the restoration work by 2033.

According to the state, Ross Island Sand & Gravel, has not started the necessary work, has not filed any permits for that work to begin and has not posted a more than $6 million bond with the state, as required.

“A delay in or failure to submit application delays or prevents the completion of the work required by the Permit,” the state wrote in its Feb. 19 letter. “This will result in adverse impacts to waters of this state, including detrimental effects on anadromous fish and wildlife habitat, surface water and groundwater resources, and soil and sediment stability.”

In 2024, the state fined the company $2.9 million for noncompliance. Fined daily, that amount has grown to the $13.9 million the state imposed in its letter.

Pamplin, 84, was once one of the richest men in Oregon. Along with Ross Island and a host of other businesses, Pamplin also owned a media empire, including the Portland Tribune and more than two dozen other Oregon newspapers. Those newspapers were sold to Carpenter Media Group in 2024.

In a separate case in 2024, Pamplin admitted to violating federal laws after he sold more than 100 pieces of property, including Ross Island, to his company’s pension fund, without permission from regulators.

The sales, which were often overvalued, burdened the pension fund with polluted or undesirable property investments, making it difficult for the pension to meet its obligations.

The federal government has forced Pamplin to sell his sprawling cattle ranch in Jefferson and Wasco counties, as well as his wineries in Yamhill County and other assets to pay back the pension.

“Dr. Pamplin must restore the pension plan to where it would be if not for his wrongdoing and make his employees’ pension plan whole,” Marc Pilotin, regional solicitor for the U.S. Department of Labor, said at the time. “The Solicitor’s Office has already been engaged actively with Dr. Pamplin to determine how he will do so and the department will not relent in fighting for participants’ rights until he does.”

After Pamplin admitted to the pension plan case, his name was removed from the University of Portland’s School of Business.

Calls to Pamplin’s attorneys and Ross Island Sand & Gravel were not returned by press time.