MORTON COUNTY, ND (Legal Newsline) - The North Dakota Supreme Court on Wednesday denied a petition of Greenpeace to move a trial it faces from oil producer Energy Transfer out of Morton County to Fargo.
Greenpeace had argued it would not receive a fair verdict in Morgan County as many in the community were impacted by protests at issue in the case.
According to the North Dakota Monitor, Greenpeace also argued that before the trial potential jurors may have been targeted with pro-fossil fuel content, including political mailers and advertisements.
Dallas-based Energy Transfer seeks $300 million in damages for trespass, nuisance and defamation from Netherlands-based Greenpeace International, its U.S. affiliate Greenpeace USA ,and Greenpeace Fund Inc. The suit is based on the 2016 and 2017 protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline’s planned Missouri River crossing, upstream from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s reservation.