(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images via the North Dakota Monitor)
(North Dakota Monitor) – Attorneys for Greenpeace argued this week that a jury’s decision ordering it to pay $667 million to the developer of the Dakota Access Pipeline cannot stand.
A Morton County jury delivered the verdict on March 19 after more than three weeks of trial. Jurors found the environmental group responsible for damages related to anti-pipeline protests in North Dakota in 2016 and 2017, as well as for publishing defamatory statements about Energy Transfer.
Greenpeace says the jury’s decision was not based on fact, but bias against the protest movement.
“What the verdict in this case reflected, your honor, is the community’s desire to punish someone who was involved in the protests,” said Everett Jack, an attorney representing Greenpeace’s U.S. affiliate.
The arguments followed a hearing earlier this month during which Greenpeace asked Southwest Judicial District Court Judge James Gion to reduce the $667 million award if he moves forward with a judgment against the environmental group.
FOLLOW US FOR INSTANT UPDATES!
