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A North Dakota judge has significantly reduced the amount that the environmental group Greenpeace must pay a Texas-based oil company over protests against a pipeline that took place nearly a decade ago. A jury awarded the company, Energy Transfer, $667 million after a trial in March, in which the company accused Greenpeace of orchestrating protests in 2016 and 2017 against the Dakota Access Pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation south of Bismarck, N.D. Greenpeace countered that it had played only a supporting role in peaceful protest activity. Judge James D. Gion, who presided over the trial in county court in Mandan, N.D., wrote in an 18-page ruling dated Oct. 28 that the three-week trial had required the jury to consider an overwhelming amount of evidence. He adjusted the award based on technical matters of law. For example, in some instances Energy Transfer had accused Greenpeace of trespassing but did not demonstrate ownership of the land in question, he found. Judge Gion also reduced the amount of damages awarded for defamation. Greenpeace had warned that the outsize verdict could force its American wing into bankruptcy. On Wednesday, Marco Simons, the interim general counsel for Greenpeace USA, said the group was still analyzing the ruling, which lowered the award to roughly $345 million from $667 million. “We still believe that the remaining claims are legally unfounded,” he said, adding that the case was “about a wealthy corporation using the legal system to intimidate its critics and muzzle protesters who threaten its business model.” He said that the group was still awaiting a final decision from the same judge and that it was planning to file a motion for a new trial. “If that is denied, we will proceed with an appeal, and are confident in the strength of our legal arguments,” he said. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
