Dakota pipeline developer sues environmental groups
Activists call $1B legal action a tactic to bully, intimidate
The developer of the Dakota Access Pipeline filed a sweeping federal lawsuit that includes allegations of participation in a criminal enterprise against several activist groups, including the Sierra Club, Bold Iowa, and Mississippi Stand.
Energy Transfer Partners of Dallas listed the lawsuit’s defendants as Greenpeace International, Earth First!, BankTrack and other organizations and individuals. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in North Dakota and seeks damages of not less than $1 billion.
“This case involves a network of putative not-for-profits and rogue eco-terrorist groups who employ patterns of criminal activity and campaigns of misinformation to target legitimate companies and industries with fabricated environmental claims and other purported misconduct, inflicting billions of dollars in damage,” the lawsuit claims.
The suit alleges that the purpose of the enterprise was to fraudulently induce donations, interfere with pipeline construction and damage Energy Transfer’s critical business and financial relationships.
The complaint also alleges the enterprise incited, funded and facilitated crimes and acts of terrorism.
Representatives of three Iowa organizations named in the suit told The Des Moines Register on Tuesday that they strongly dispute the claims in the lawsuit. They said they continue to oppose the $3.8 billion pipeline, which began transporting crude oil June 1 from North Dakota’s Bakken oil patch to Patoka, Ill., while passing through 18 Iowa counties.
The pipeline has been fought by Indian tribes and environmen-
The pipeline has been fought by activists who claim it contributes to global warming.
tal activists who claim it contributes to global warming, threatens water supplies and interferes with native ancestral lands.
“We didn’t do anything outside legal avenues,” said Wallace Taylor of Cedar Rapids, a lawyer for the Iowa chapter of the Sierra Club. He said the lawsuit is apparently intended to intimidate public interest defendants and to stifle citizen action. The Sierra Club continues to challenge the state’s approval of the Dakota Access project before the Iowa Supreme Court, he noted.
Frank Cordaro of Des Moines, a Catholic Worker activist, described the lawsuit as an example of corporate bullying.
“They own the courts, and they own the government,” he said.
Two members of Mississippi Stand group, Jessica Reznicek, 36, and Ruby Montoya, 27, both of Des Moines, claimed responsibility for efforts to sabotage the Dakota Access pipeline. Neither has been charged, but the Des Moines Catholic Worker house where they live was raided by FBI agents.
Ed Fallon of Des Moines, a leader of Bold Iowa, said he takes the lawsuit seriously, but he considers it to be frivolous. He noted that Dakota Access withdrew a federal lawsuit last year that sought a restraining order against Bold Iowa and Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement.
Greenpeace USA General Counsel Tom Wetterer said, “It is yet another classic ‘Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation’ not designed to seek justice, but to silence free speech through expensive, time-consuming litigation,” he said.