Judge says he will order Greenpeace to pay expected $345 million in pipeline protest case

The Associated Press reports that a North Dakota judge said he will order Greenpeace to pay damages expected to total $345 million in connection with protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline in 2016 and 2017.

In court papers filed Tuesday, cited by the Associated Press, Judge James Gion said he would sign an order requiring several Greenpeace entities to pay the judgment to pipeline company Energy Transfer. He set the amount at $345 million last year after reducing a jury’s original $666.9 million award by about half, but the latest filing did not specify a final total. The order is expected to begin an appeal process in the North Dakota Supreme Court from both sides.

Last year, a nine-person jury found Netherlands-based Greenpeace International, Greenpeace USA and Greenpeace Fund Inc. liable for defamation and other claims brought by Dallas-based Energy Transfer and subsidiary Dakota Access. The jury found Greenpeace USA liable on all counts, including conspiracy, trespass, nuisance and tortious interference, and assigned it $404 million of the original judgment before it was reduced.