WASHINGTON – On January 7th, 2021 the Westchester Fire Insurance Company, a subsidiary of international insurance corporation Chubb, notified Energy Transfer Partners that it was cancelling a crucial $250,000 bond for the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) segment in Iowa. Publication of this bond cancellation comes just days after a federal appeals court largely sided with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe upholding lower court decisions that revoked a key permit for the line and required a federal agency to conduct a lengthy environmental review.
Surety bonds are used to protect the public from having to pay for any damages or pollution created by existing projects.
The following is a statement from Indigenous Environmental Network:
“Dakota Access Pipeline has no federal easement. It’s now losing insurance coverage on the state-level which is a requirement for Iowa’s state permit. It is time for President Biden to take action and shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline. This project is a danger to all communities along its path, including the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux Nations. It’s time to end this saga and do what’s right. Shut down DAPL.”
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
