DAPL reprimanded for failure to file detail on insurance

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 4:00 p.m. CT, June 9, 2017
Contact: Ed Fallon: 515-238-6404, or ed@fallonforum.com

DAPL reprimanded for failure to file detail on insurance

Des Moines, Iowa — Bold Iowa responded today to the order released this afternoon by the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) regarding Dakota Access’ failure to file “accurate, up-to-date information regarding the insurance for this pipeline,” according to the IUB’s order.

Read the complete IUB order here.

“At first, Dakota Access tried to get out of any meaningful insurance policy whatsoever,” pointed out Ed Fallon, director of Bold Iowa. “But due to intense public pressure, the IUB, to its credit, required Dakota Access to have $25 million in general liability insurance.”

[BREAKING AS OF 4:40 P.M. Central Time: Fallon just got off the phone with IUB staff person who said, “I can’t confirm whether Dakota Access does or does not have insurance right now.”]

In the IUB’s order today, the two board members who signed it (Geri Huser and Nick Wagner) pointed out that, “Dakota Access said that it intended to renew or replace the policies for a longer term on or about May 1, 2017, and would file written evidence of the renewal or replacement promptly thereafter. Then, on May 15, 2017, (sic) filed endorsements further extending the terms of the policies to June 1, 2017, and said that because the pipeline was expected to go into service in the near future, it had secured new policies to replace the existing policies, which ‘will be filed with the Board as soon as they are available.’  As of June 7, 2017, no such filing has been made.”

“So, basically, we’ve had oil running through this pipeline since June 1, and if there’d been a spill, it’s unclear as to whether or not Dakota Access has a policy in place to cover the costs of a clean-up,” said Fallon. “That’s unconscionable, but consistent with the cavalier attitude we’ve come to expect from Dakota Access.”

The IUB’s memo concludes by setting a deadline of June 13 by which Dakota Access is required to “file either (a) insurance policies complying with the requirements of Ordering Clause No. 3.a in the ‘Final Decision and Order’ issued in this docket on March 10, 2016, or (b) a detailed report describing the status of insurance for the pipeline that is the subject of this docket, including a statement of when new insurance policies will be filed.”

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