PORTLAND, Ore. — Two years after Buoy Beer Company's Astoria brewery and restaurant partially collapsed, the business' insurance company has filed a lawsuit for more than $9.4 million against several companies and the city of Astoria. The lawsuit claims the collapse was preventable, and accused the defendants of gross negligence, causing the collapse.
Mt. Hawley Insurance Company filed the lawsuit on Wednesday against Rickenbach Construction, Inc., Stricker Engineering, LLC, the city of Astoria and Columbia Dockworks, Inc. The lawsuit alleges that the century-old building's structural integrity had worsened over the years, and that the construction and engineer companies that worked on the building were aware that it was a safety hazard, but failed to take any action.
The warehouse-style building on the waterfront partially collapsed as the roof caved in on June 14, 2022. It was closed and unoccupied at the time. No one was hurt. The part of the building that was damaged housed Buoy Beer's restaurant, small batch brewing tanks and its canning line.
The insurance company said in the lawsuit that the defendants "were either willfully ignorant, fraudulently concealing, or negligently unaware of the severe and deteriorating condition of the Brewery."
In the years leading up to the collapse, the construction company is accused of applying for permits to complete construction work without requesting or conducting a structural analysis of the brewery. The engineering company completed drawings and calculations related to building renovations without a structural analysis either, the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit also claims the city of Astoria approved permits for dozens of alterations and additions to the brewer despite not having a structural analysis.
"A near-decade of construction work, coupled with the installation of tens of thousands of pounds of brewery equipment, a century old wharf, and no comprehensive structural engineering analysis contributed to the Brewery's collapse," the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit is seeking damages from the defendants for the collapse.
