Opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline camp. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images via the North Dakota Monitor)
(. North Dakota Monitor) – A jury of nine will decide the $300 million case accusing Greenpeace of concocting a scheme to undermine the Dakota Access Pipeline.
The environmental group is on trial in Morton County District Court over claims that it incited illegal acts by protesters in North Dakota that cost the developer of the pipeline millions in alleged property damages, lost revenue and other unexpected costs. Energy Transfer also claims Greenpeace waged a misinformation campaign against the company in an effort to stop the project.
Greenpeace was one of many activist groups involved in the demonstrations, which took place in 2016 and 2017 near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, and drew thousands of attendees. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe started the protests in opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline, which it sees as an affront to tribal sovereignty and a pollution threat.
Greenpeace denies all of Energy Transfer’s claims and has called the lawsuit an underhanded effort to hurt the environmental movement.
