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

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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.

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Love that ETC is saying, “No, we want the full $667 Million.”

$345 MM or $667 MM, I just love that these Greenpeace jackholes with all their fricking around are now finally finding out. They’ve cost companies and taxpayers money with their antics over the past couple decades.