Oregon wineries and vineyards seek $100 million from PacifiCorp for wildfire smoke damage to grapes
6 months, 3 weeks ago

Oregon wineries and vineyards seek $100 million from PacifiCorp for wildfire smoke damage to grapes

Associated Press  

PORTLAND, Ore. — Dozens of Oregon wineries and vineyards have sued PacifiCorp over the deadly 2020 wildfires that ravaged the state, alleging that the utility’s decision to not turn off power during the Labor Day windstorm contributed to blazes whose smoke and soot damaged their grapes and reduced their harvest and sales. In the latest lawsuit to hit the utility over the fires, some 30 wineries and vineyards in the Willamette Valley accused PacifiCorp of negligence and requested over $100 million in damages. In their complaint, the wine producers say the fires “produced harmful smoke particles that landed on and infused themselves into the grapes.” Vineyards couldn’t sell their grapes to winemakers, and wineries have been unable to sell their wines, resulting in lost revenue and damaged reputations, the complaint says. The 2020 Labor Day weekend fires were among the worst natural disasters in Oregon’s history, killing nine people, burning more than 1,875 square miles and destroying upward of 5,000 homes and other structures.

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PacifiCorp will pay $178M to Oregon wildfire victims in latest settlement over deadly 2020 blazes
6 months, 3 weeks ago

PacifiCorp will pay $178M to Oregon wildfire victims in latest settlement over deadly 2020 blazes

Associated Press  

PORTLAND, Ore. — Pacific Power, part of PacifiCorp, said Monday it has agreed to a $178 million settlement with over 400 Oregon plaintiffs in the latest multimillion-dollar payout related to the deadly 2020 wildfires that ravaged the state. The majority of the 403 plaintiffs in the settlement Monday were affected by the Echo Mountain Complex Fire that devastated Oregon’s central …

Oregon power company to pay nearly $300 million to settle latest lawsuit over 2020 wildfires
1 year ago

Oregon power company to pay nearly $300 million to settle latest lawsuit over 2020 wildfires

Associated Press  

PORTLAND, Ore. — Electricity utility PacifiCorp will pay $299 million to settle a lawsuit brought by 463 individual plaintiffs who were harmed by devastating wildfires in southern Oregon in 2020. The utility has faced several lawsuits from property owners and residents who say PacifiCorp negligently failed to shut off power to its 600,000 customers during a windstorm over Labor Day …

Trial starts in $1.6-billion class action lawsuit over deadly 2020 Oregon fires
1 year, 7 months ago

Trial starts in $1.6-billion class action lawsuit over deadly 2020 Oregon fires

LA Times  

A trial connected to a $1.6-billion class action lawsuit against utility PacifiCorp over the catastrophic Labor Day 2020 wildfires in Oregon began Tuesday in Portland. Jurors in the Multnomah County trial will determine PacifiCorp’s responsibility, if any, in four of those blazes: the Santiam Canyon fires east of Salem; the Echo Mountain Complex near Lincoln City; the South Obenchain fire …

Fires again ravage a California wine industry already reeling. ‘It’s very heartbreaking’
4 years, 2 months ago

Fires again ravage a California wine industry already reeling. ‘It’s very heartbreaking’

LA Times  

The owners of the Castello di Amorosa winery spent $40 million re-creating a 13th century Tuscan castle in Napa Valley, replete with stone turrets and towers, and a small drawbridge. This year, the pandemic closed tasting rooms, wildfire smoke threatened multimillion-dollar vintages, and now raging blazes have created a triple whammy for many who call California’s famed “wine country” home. …

Notes of smoke and ash: Wine grapes tainted by West Coast fires
4 years, 3 months ago

Notes of smoke and ash: Wine grapes tainted by West Coast fires

LA Times  

A plume of smoke over a vineyard in Napa County as the Hennessey fire burned last month. Smoke from the California and Pacific Northwest wildfires has tainted grapes in some of the nation’s most celebrated wine regions with an ashy flavor that could spell disaster for the 2020 vintage. The wildfires are likely to be “without question the single worst …

Wildfires again threaten business in California wine country
4 years, 3 months ago

Wildfires again threaten business in California wine country

Associated Press  

HEALDSBURG, Calif. — With an early harvest already underway, a wildfire a few miles west of John Bucher’s ranch added new urgency to getting his pinot noir grapes off the vine. “You can’t sit inside because of the pandemic, and you can’t sit outside because of the smoke,” said Janet Tupper of Napa, who runs Mercantile 12, a wholesale business …

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