OREGON, USA — Pacific Power could be dealing with even more lawsuits from the devastating wildfires that tore through much of Oregon over the Labor Day weekend in 2020.
Willamette Valley Vineyards along with three other wineries, including Elk Grove Vineyards and Samuel Robert Winery, are all are looking into filing a lawsuit against Pacific Power over the money they lost from smoke-damaged grapes that year.
Smoke from the devastating September 2020 fires forced many wineries to dump out their harvest because the smoke was too much for the grapes to handle, causing "smoke taint" to the flavor.
“The Willamette Valley vineyards and wineries lost an excess of a half a billion, if not more, from our viewpoint,” said Robert Julian, an attorney with BakerHostetler who’s looking into possibly taking on the case.
Julian claims that the power company was negligent when it came to protecting vineyards from the wildfires.
Pacific Power is already in the middle of a trial between a group of seventeen plaintiffs who are suing the company for nearly $2 billion. In that case, homeowners are suing because they claim the company's power lines sparked the fires that destroyed their property. Oregon state officials even urged the power company to turn off power ahead of the massive winds but in court, the attorney for Pacific Power has said that would have been too risky.
“In Oregon, there are two different laws that allow the wineries and vineyards to collect either double or triple their damages if we can prove Pacific Power acted recklessly,” Julian said of the potential lawsuit.
Town hall meetings are scheduled for later this week — one on Friday, May 12 at 8 a.m. at Domaine Willamette, followed by another one at 10:00 a.m.
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