Multnomah County’s $52 billion lawsuit against fossil fuel companies over the 2021 heat dome event just added two more defendants to the list — NW Natural and the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine.
Filed on Monday, the county’s amended civil complaint alleges NW Natural is responsible for a substantial amount of greenhouse gas emission pollution in Oregon and that the company has sought to disseminate misinformation about climate harm caused by carbon emissions.
NW Natural is Oregon’s largest gas utility and serves more than 2.5 million people across the Pacific Northwest.
The Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, or OISM, was also added as a defendant for engaging in a “climate deception/misinformation campaign in Oregon to continue to further the business objectives of its carbon polluting funders,” according to the amended complaint.
“It is our purpose to hold accountable all of the companies that we allege engaged in wrongdoing associated with carbon pollution that has so negatively affected climate,” co-lead counsel for Multnomah County Jeffrey B. Simon said to OPB. “Adding these two defendants is consistent with that objective.”
Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson speaks at a press conference June 22, 2023, announcing the county's lawsuit against fossil fuel companies in Portland, Ore., Thursday, June 22, 2023. The county is suing 17 oil and gas companies, alleging the burning of their products contributed to a deadly heat wave in 2021.
Monica Samayoa / OPB
Multnomah’s climate accountability lawsuit is one of more than two dozen that have been filed against fossil fuel companies across the nation. The county is seeking $50 million in actual damages for the 2021 heat dome, $1.5 billion in future damages and $50 billion to better prepare for the changing climate.
Simon said Multnomah County’s case is different than most because it centers around a particular catastrophic event related to the heat dome.
For nearly a week during the summer of 2021, temperatures soared past triple digits with some areas in Portland reaching as high as 116 Fahrenheit. At least 69 people died in Multnomah County due to heat-related illnesses during that time frame. Many were found alone in their homes with no air conditioning units.
“It was hotter in Multnomah County and in the Pacific Northwest at large than it had ever been in that part of the world in human history,” Simon said. “They were completely unprepared for that kind of extreme weather.”
Simon said that residents were unprepared for it because of how fossil fuel companies have been downplaying and spreading misinformation on climate change and “we contend defendants had been disseminating in some cases for decades and in others for many years.”
There are 24 named defendants, with 13 of them representing oil and gas companies.
A spokesperson for NW Natural said Monday the company had not yet received the complaint. “However, we believe adding the company to the suit now is an attempt to divert attention from legal and factual flaws in the case,” he said in an email on Tuesday. “NW Natural will vigorously contest the County’s claims should they come to court.”
Multiple efforts were made to reach out to the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, but the group was not reachable.
“We’re already paying dearly in Multnomah County for our climate crisis — with our tax dollars, with our health and with our lives. Going forward we have to strengthen our safety net just to keep people safe,” Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson said in a statement. “As we learned in this country when we took on big tobacco, this is not an easy step or one I take lightly but I do believe it’s our best way to fight for our community and protect our future.”
The case is currently pending in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland.