Jury finds Greenpeace at fault for protest damages, awards pipeline developer hundreds of millions

A Morton County, North Dakota jury on Wednesday ordered Greenpeace to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to the developer of the Dakota Access Pipeline, finding that the environmental group incited illegal behavior by anti-pipeline protesters and defamed the company.

The nine-person jury delivered a verdict in favor of Energy Transfer on most counts. Energy Transfer estimated the damages awarded at nearly $700 million. A jury verdict form with the exact total was not immediately available.

The case centers on Greenpeace’s involvement in protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016 and 2017. The demonstrations were started by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which views the project as a pollution threat and imposition onto Native land. Thousands of protesters camped for months north of the Standing Rock Reservation, near where the pipeline crosses underneath the Missouri River.

Energy Transfer filed the lawsuit in 2019, accusing Greenpeace of providing resources, including supplies, intelligence and training, to encourage Dakota Access Pipeline protesters to commit criminal acts to stop construction of the project. The company also claims that Greenpeace intentionally spread misinformation about the pipeline to tarnish its reputation with banks.

“These are the facts, not the fake news of the Greenpeace propaganda machine,” Trey Cox, the lead attorney representing Energy Transfer, said in a press conference outside the Morton County Courthouse after the verdict.

Energy Transfer representatives believe protesting is an “inherent American right” but that Greenpeace’s actions were “unacceptable,” Cox continued.

The company sued three Greenpeace entities — Greenpeace USA, Greenpeace International and Greenpeace Fund. The jury found Greenpeace USA liable for almost all claims. The jury did not find Greenpeace International and Greenpeace Fund responsible for the alleged on-the-ground harms committed by protesters, but did find those entities liable for defamation, conspiracy and interfering with Energy Transfer’s business.

Attorneys representing Greenpeace International and Greenpeace Fund told the jury that they never had any employees visit the demonstration camps or provide money to support the protests.

Greenpeace USA has previously said the lawsuit threatened to bankrupt the organization. When asked whether that was still the case Wednesday afternoon, Greenpeace Senior Legal Adviser Deepa Padmanabha said “the work of Greenpeace is never gonna stop.”

During closing arguments on Monday, Cox told jurors that Greenpeace’s actions caused between $265 million and $340 million in damages to the company. He asked the jury to award Energy Transfer that amount plus additional punitive damages.

The verdict brought to a close a more than three-week trial in Mandan. The jury began deliberating Monday afternoon after hearing testimony from dozens of witnesses, including current and former Greenpeace employees, Indigenous activists, Energy Transfer representatives and law enforcement.

Among the witnesses was former Greenpeace Executive Director Annie Leonard and Energy Transfer Executive Chairman Kelcy Warren, who appeared by video deposition.

Greenpeace denies the allegations and says the lawsuit is a ploy to punish activist groups.

Some observers of the trial who participated in the anti-pipeline demonstration expressed anger after the verdict was announced Wednesday.

“Standing Rock was not heard,” Waniya Locke, a Standing Rock citizen who attended much of the trial, said. She said that she will continue opposing the pipeline.

Greenpeace maintains that the protests were Indigenous-led and that it only provided support to demonstrators because it was asked.

Some witnesses, Native organizers and law enforcement who attended the protests also testified that Greenpeace was not seen as a leader at the camps.

Free speech and environmental advocates have spoken out against the trial, arguing that the suit should have been dismissed outright and that the Morton County jury would not be able to render a fair verdict.

Greenpeace more than once petitioned to move the case to a different North Dakota court, but was denied.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairwoman Janet Alkire in a statement earlier this month called the lawsuit “frivolous.”

The docket for the colossal lawsuit has thousands of filings. On Monday, an attorney representing Greenpeace said the case has around 900,000 documents.

This story was produced by the North Dakota Monitor which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network.