WASHINGTON: The Port of Vancouver is suing one of its tenants, Pacific Coast Shredding, for nearly $388,000, claiming it violated a lease agreement. The lawsuit was filed Dec. 15 in Clark County Superior Court. Victor Winkler, CEO of Pacific Coast Shredding, said he wasn’t aware of the details because his company has yet to be served. “They haven’t served us anything, but I’m not too nervous,” he said. “I think the attorneys must be hurting for work because it’s another one they can’t win.”
Port spokeswoman Abbi Russell declined to comment because the lawsuit is active. The issue centers around five acres of land the port leased to Pacific Coast Shredding, which processes scrap metal and makes it ready for recycling. The port claims that Pacific Coast Shredding didn’t return 0.3 acres of the leased property in the same condition as when it was leased.
The port claims it had to pay for removal and disposal of contaminated material on the parcel. Now the port is seeking reimbursement for cleanup costs, plus about 9 months of hold-over rent, fees that it incurred with interest. The $388,000 being sought breaks down like this: $240,700, plus interest for cleanup costs and $147,200 in rent on the 0.3 acres from January 2014 to July 2015, plus interest. The port is also seeking reimbursement for fees paid to attorneys and experts. According to the complaint, the port leased the 5 acres to Pacific Coast Shredding for $10,830 per month from February 2012 through the end of 2013. The company used the property to store steel slabs, coils, plate, structural and other materials, as well as recycling containers.
The documents also say the company tried to vacated the property around Dec. 31, 2013 by removing its stockpiled materials, but it left scrap metal, debris and other materials behind. Also, the company allegedly left behind contaminated soils on top of the contamination that was already on the site. The two organizations worked together to try to restore the land to its original condition, but the lawsuit alleges not everything was removed. Port employees then scraped several inches of soil to remove debris and contaminated soil and stockpiled it all on about 0.3 acres of the original 5-acre leased area.
The port claims that on Oct. 21, 2014, it notified the company it would accept the return of 4.7 acres, but not the 0.3-acre parcel where the materials were piled. The port then told the company it must continue paying the lease on the 0.3 acres. But, according to the suit, Pacific Coast Shredding didn’t pay the rent or clean the property. Around Dec. 31, 2014, Pacific Coast Shredding said it wouldn’t remove the material or pay the lease. The port then cleaned the property entirely and accepted the final 0.3 acres.
Pacific Coast Shredding has been a port tenant since 1997 and leases about 15 acres in total. Most of its site was once home to a plywood plant that closed many years ago. In about the past five years, the port and Pacific Coast Shredding have sparred several times over property access and uses related to the West Vancouver Freight Access project, the port’s $275 million freight-rail expansion that runs near Pacific Coast Shredding’s operation at 900 Port Way.
