Judge says Greenpeace must pay $345 million in pipeline lawsuit, cutting jury amount nearly in half

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BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota judge has ordered Greenpeace to pay damages of $345 million, reducing an earlier jury award after it found the environmental group and related entities liable for defamation and other claims in connection with protests of an oil pipeline nearly a decade ago.

The new amount is roughly half the $667 million that a jury had awarded to the pipeline company that brought the claims, Dallas-based Energy Transfer and subsidiary Dakota Access.

The case stems from protests in 2016 and 2017 against the Dakota Access oil pipeline and its crossing of the Missouri River near the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s reservation.

Greenpeace had asked state District Judge James Gion to rule in its favor on the claims against it, with mixed results. In granting the request to some claims, the judge said he had no evidence to review or that the damages were duplicative. In denying others, he said the evidence could lead a jury to reasonably make such findings. He limited certain damages and disallowed several claims.

Energy Transfer said it intends to appeal “as we firmly believe that the original jury findings and damages awards for conspiracy and defamation are lawful and just.”

Greenpeace, for its part, intends to seek a new trial and will appeal if denied, saying, “we still believe that the remaining claims are legally unfounded.” The group has said the lawsuit is meant to chill free speech and the right to protest.

In March, a nine-person jury found Netherlands-based Greenpeace International, Greenpeace USA and funding arm Greenpeace Fund Inc. liable for defamation and other claims brought by Energy Transfer.

The jury found Greenpeace USA liable on all counts, including conspiracy, trespass, nuisance and tortious interference with business relations. The other two entities were found liable for some of the claims.

Damages totaled $666.9 million, divided in different amounts among the three Greenpeace organizations.

The pipeline company accused Greenpeace of carrying out a scheme to stop the pipeline. Greenpeace attorneys said there was no evidence to back up the claims.

After the verdict, attorneys for the Greenpeace entities asked the judge to reduce the damages and to undo the verdict in their favor. Energy Transfer asked the judge to enter the judgment the jury found.

The lawsuit was filed in 2019 and went to trial earlier this year in state district court in Mandan, North Dakota.

In September, the judge denied a request from the pipeline company to stop Greenpeace International from continuing with an anti-intimidation lawsuit it filed against Energy Transfer in the Netherlands.