North Dakota Judge Won’t Halt Netherlands Lawsuit Against Dakota Access Pipeline Developer

Opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images via the North Dakota Monitor)

(North Dakota Monitor) – A North Dakota judge rejected a request from the developer of the Dakota Access Pipeline to pause a free speech lawsuit filed against it overseas by the environmental group Greenpeace.

The Amsterdam-based Greenpeace International brought the case in response to Energy Transfer’s lawsuit accusing it of engaging in conspiracy, defamation and other crimes to stop the pipeline from being built. That lawsuit, pending in North Dakota district court, was also filed against two other Greenpeace entities: Greenpeace USA and Greenpeace Fund.

Greenpeace denies all of Energy Transfer’s allegations and says the pipeline company’s true motivation for bringing the suit is to punish and intimidate the activists who participated in the Indigenous-led protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016 and 2017.

In this vein, Greenpeace International in early February counter-sued Energy Transfer in the Netherlands under a European Union directive that provides recourse to those targeted by frivolous lawsuits for exercising their free speech.