It was a tip from a lobbyist.

Staff at the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay learned that Oregonians have invested in the company that owns the defunct railroad here. Now, they want the state to divest.

“We have 3-percent interest in RailAmerica,” said Kate Cooper Richardson, chief of staff for State Treasurer Randall Edwards.

The connection is through the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund. PERS has placed hundreds of millions of dollars with Fortress Investment Group LLC, a New York-based equity fund manager. Fortress in turn owns Florida-based RailAmerica, which it bought earlier this year. RailAmerica owns the Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad, which closed the Coos Bay short line with one day’s notice Sept. 21, citing concerns over unsafe tunnels.

That closure created a ripple of panic. Sawmill owners, American Bridge and other companies were left scrambling to find truckers to move their shipments up to rail yards in Eugene.

Port officials were downright angry.

Over the past few years, the port helped build the more than $4 million rail spur onto the North Spit. It’s been amassing millions to rebuild the Coos Bay Rail Bridge. And, the railroad is central to the port’s effort to woo the world’s largest container shipping company to build a terminal at Coos Bay.

They blamed Fortress, with $43 billion in assets, not RailAmerica for the decision and refusal to spend the $7 million to keep open the sole railroad serving the South Coast.

They called on Gov. Ted Kulongoski, state legislators and the South Coast’s congressman, Peter DeFazio, to do something. DeFazio had Federal Railroad Administration inspectors walking the short line last week. Their report on tunnel conditions is due out soon.

But Thursday night, irritated port commissioners tried to send more jolts. One came in the form of a unanimous vote to sue CORP for breach of contract in violating its leases on the North Spit rail spur and Coos Bay Railroad Bridge. The contracts require 180 days’ notice prior to closing the rail. Second, the commission voted unanimously to challenge the state to put a chink in the Fortress link. They approved Resolution 2007/2008-04. It asks the Oregon Investment Council, the governor and state treasurer to divest — sell off — investments in Fortress (aka RailAmerica). (See sidebar)

“We can’t. When you invest in a fund like this, you have a closing and you’re contractually obligated to fulfill your commitment calls,” PERS’ Chief Investment Officer Ron Schmitz said Friday.

It’s not like buying stock.

When PERS invests in a fund, there’s typically a five- or six-year investment period. The typical life of a fund is 10 to 12 years, he explained.

But the irony runs deeper.

It seems Port of Coos Bay employees own a little RailAmerica, too.

“We didn’t know that until just recently,” said Martin Callery, the port director of communications.

The port hands over its employees’ retirement funds to PERS. But, Callery said, the port has no control over where PERS invests the money.

“Maybe we need to pursue other avenues that would say to state investors, ‘You need to pay attention to ethical practices,’” he added.

PERS officials say they do. For example, the state has a policy divesting in companies that invest in genocide-supporting Sudan. Even that can be a challenge, when monies are in these equity funds. The guiding principles for the Investment Council are whether the investments are being prudently and profitably managed. The same counts for divestment.

“If there’s no comparable investment, the Investment Council doesn’t have to even divest from that,” Richardson said of indirect investments in Sudan.

It’s a blind pool going in, Schmitz explained. PERS wouldn’t know specifically where fund managers will place the money. The state has no control.

“Limited partners are along for the ride,” he added.

That even includes the employees at the Port of Coos Bay.