MANDAN, ND (Legal Newsline) - Morton County jurors on Wednesday awarded the operator of Dakota Access Pipeline a whopping $666.8 million in damages against Greenpeace on claims of trespass, nuisance and defamation.
Lead attorney for plaintiff Energy Transfer Trey Cox called the verdict "resounding."
"It is a day of reckoning and accountability for Greenpeace," Cox said outside the courthouse after the verdict was announced. "It is also a day of celebration for the Constitution, the state of North Dakota, and Energy Transfer."
He said he hoped that the verdict would bring some measure of healing and closure to the Morton County community and state of North Dakota, as well as law enforcement "who across the state diligently worked and risked their lives to maintain order in increasing chaos."
The Dallas-based oil company brought its case against Greenpeace claiming the environmental organization fueled protests in 2016 and 2017 aimed at halting the pipeline’s construction crossing under the Missouri River, some of which involved violence and property damage.
The entities at trial included Netherlands-based Greenpeace International, Greenpeace USA and the funding arm of the environmental activist organization, Greenpeace Fund Inc.
Energy Transfer argued that delays caused by protesters resulted in the project missing an online production deadline of Jan. 1, 2017. The company was contractually obligated to be online by that date or clients could take business to competitors.
It further claimed that Greenpeace made defamatory statements that resulted in banks withdrawing support.
"Greenpeace maliciously misrepresented events within this community in an unrelenting attempt to stop by any means possible the construction of a pipeline that had already obtained all of the necessary legal approval," Cox said.
Greenpeace representatives also addressed media gathered outside the courthouse.
When asked if the judgment was fatal to Greenpeace in the U.S., a spokesperson said, "the work of Greenpeace is never going to stop," and answered a reporter's question on whether the verdict will be appealed.
"We have not had a chance to even circle up as a group yet, but the fight is not over," the Greenpeace official said.
"We should all be concerned about the attacks on our First Amendment and lawsuits like this that really threaten our rights to peaceful protest and free speech. Greenpeace is going to continue its fight to protect these fundamental rights."
On the issue of free speech, Cox said that the verdict was a "powerful" affirmation of the First Amendment.
"Peaceful protests is an inherent American right," he said. "However, violent and destructive protest is unlawful and unacceptable."