Greenpeace must pay pipeline company nearly $667 million over Standing Rock protests, jury says

By Jack Queen

(Reuters) - Greenpeace must pay a Texas-based pipeline company nearly $667 million in damages for the environmental advocacy group’s role in 2016-2017 protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota, a jury said Wednesday.

The verdict in North Dakota state court came after two days of deliberations in a trial where pipeline company Energy Transfer accused Greenpeace of paying protesters to disrupt construction of the pipeline unlawfully and spreading falsehoods about the controversial project, located near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.

The verdict included damages for defamation, trespassing and conspiracy. The jury awarded more than $400 million in punitive damages, which are intended to punish defendants for their conduct.

Greenpeace denied wrongdoing and called the case an attack on free speech rights. The group’s lawyers said they would appeal Wednesday’s verdict.

“We’re an advocacy group. We engage in peaceful protest,” said Greenpeace attorney Deepa Padmanabha, asserting that the group only played a minor role in the demonstrations.

Energy Transfer lawyer Trey Cox said in a statement that Greenpeace’s “violent and destructive” protests were not legally protected speech.

“Today, the jury delivered a resounding verdict, declaring Greenpeace’s actions wrong, unlawful, and unacceptable by societal standards. It is a day of reckoning and accountability for Greenpeace,” Cox said.

Construction of the pipeline was met with fierce protests by environmental and tribal advocacy groups who said the project would poison local water supply and exacerbate climate change.

The project began in 2016 and was completed the following year. The pipeline transports roughly 40% of the oil produced in North Dakota’s Bakken region.

(Reporting by Jack Queen in New York; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Cynthia Osterman)