Settlement Over Private Border Wall Won’t Stop Flooding or Erosion of Rio Grande Shoreline, Experts Say – By Perla Trevizo and Jeremy Schwartz (ProPublica) / June 4, 2022
Federal authorities have reached a deal that gives builders of the privately funded fence control over where to inspect for damage and leeway over which issues they choose to repair.
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Federal prosecutors reached a settlement agreement this week with the construction company that built a troubled private border fence along the Rio Grande in South Texas.
The settlement caps off two and a half years of legal wrangling after the federal government sued Fisher Industries and its subsidiaries, alleging that the 18-foot-tall and 3-mile-long fence led to erosion so significant that it threatened to shift the border and could cause the structure to collapse into the river, impacting a major dam.
Under the agreement, the company must conduct quarterly inspections, maintain an existing gate that allows for the release of floodwaters and keep a $3 million bond, a type of insurance, for 15 years, or until the property is transferred to the government, to cover any expenses in case the structure fails.
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