By Stephen Floyd
A lawsuit against PacifiCorp by a local vineyard over the 2020 wildfires has been partially dismissed as a potential trial remains pending.
On Dec. 13, Marion County Circuit Court Judge Channing Bennett signed an order dismissing a claim of corruption of evidence in Willamette Valley Vineyards, Inc. vs. PacifiCorp et al.
The plaintiff voluntarily agreed to dismiss a claim of private nuisance, a request for injunctive relief and for triple damages allowed under state law for fire damage to vegetation.
Remaining claims were allowed to proceed including allegations that PacifiCorp negligently caused the fires and damaged plaintiff’s ability to enjoy its property. Plaintiff is expected to resubmit a complaint reflecting these changes.
A Portland jury found PacifiCorp liable June 12 for negligently causing the Santiam, South Obenchain, Echo Mountain Complex and 242 fires during high heat and wind conditions Sept. 7, 2020.
Willamette Valley Vineyards (WVV) filed suit July 24 claiming smoke damage to the grapes it grows directly and buys from local farmers caused an estimated $2.74 million in losses.
PacifiCorp has adamantly denied causing the fires in this and multiple other pending lawsuits. On Aug. 30 the company filed a motion requesting the WVV suit be dismissed. It claimed there was no factual evidence that smoke from the specific fires at issue harmed plaintiff’s grapes as opposed to the dozen other fires that burned across Oregon on Labor Day 2020.
A hearing on the motion was held Nov. 29 and WVV argued its claims were backed by sufficient evidence and that damage to its property was a foreseeable outcome of PacifiCorp’s negligence. PacifiCorp reasserted that WVV could not prove which soot particles originated from which fires, including those hundreds of miles away, and insisted the whole suit should be thrown out.
With Bennett’s order preserving most of the suit, the case is proceeding and a hearing is set for April 15, 2024, to potentially choose a trial date.
