An environmental advocacy group, Greenpeace, says it still wants a new trial despite having more than $300 million slashed from a judgment against it over protests against a pipeline in North Dakota almost a decade ago.
The occasionally violent and destructive demonstrations took place between 2016 and 2017 against the Dakota Access Pipeline, run by Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners. The protests were led by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and supported by thousands of Indigenous and environmental activists.
On Wednesday, North Dakota judge James Gion cut the amount awarded to the plaintiffs by a jury to $345 million, a little more than half of the original $660 million. In March, a jury had found Greenpeace liable on all counts, including charges such as trespass and conspiracy, and ordered it to pay more than $660 million.
Energy Transfer Partners said the protests cost it hundreds of millions of dollars due to property damage and lost revenue. However, Greenpeace denied involvement in efforts to stop the construction of the pipeline and appealed the ruling, saying it cannot afford to pay the judgment.
Greenpeace says it still plans to ask for a new trial, stating, “We still believe that the remaining claims are legally unfounded.” If Judge Gion declines the group’s request for a new trial, Greenpeace said it will file an appeal.
Marco Simons, interim general counsel for Greenpeace, said in a statement that the case “has always been about a wealthy corporation using the legal system to intimidate its critics and muzzle protesters who threaten its business model.”
While fighting to get the judgment thrown out, Greenpeace is also pursuing an anti-intimidation lawsuit against Energy Transfer in the Netherlands. This lawsuit is filed under a European Union law established to provide recourse to defendants targeted with frivolous lawsuits intended to silence them.
https://www.nysun.com/article/north-dakota-judge-slashes-300-million-off-judgment-against-greenpeace-for-pipeline-protests
