The opening week of Greenpeace's groundbreaking trial in a multi-million-dollar multi-dollar lawsuit over energy transfer via the Dakota Access Pipeline protest was no precursor to the defense.
Greenpeace's lawyers said themselves in a petition filed with the North Dakota Supreme Court. They asked the court on Thursday to move the trial out of Morton County, claiming that the ju court was not fair. In 2016 and 2017, daily life was disrupted for nearly a year by protesters heading to the Standing Rock Indian reservation just south of the county line.
Since 2017, protests over the construction of the pipeline have transported oil from North Dakota to Illinois to several states, attracting international attention, attracting thousands of people, and sometimes violent clashes.
Energy Transfer, the company that built the pipeline, first filed a lawsuit against Greenpeace in 2019. The lawsuit denies environmental groups playing a key role in protests delaying construction of pipelines and protests against attacks on workers and equipment and breaking away from energy transfer.
Greenpeace, one of the world's most widely known environmental groups, says it plays a small role in protests supporting Native American activists, and the organization is promoting non-violence.
Greenpeace's lawyers said the ju approve selection process showed that the county court was incorrect in denying previous claims that the trial would be moved to a larger city in Fargo. “Once the ju apprentice's selection is complete, it is more clear than ever that Greenpeace defendants will not be subject to a fair and impartial trial in the county where the protest occurred,” they wrote in their claim.
If Greenpeace loses its lawsuit, the ruling could be hundreds of millions of dollars and force it to close its US business.
The allegations also pointed to newspapers sent to Morton County residents in recent months that contained negative stories about the protest. The three Greenpeace entities appointed in the suit said in their petition to the state Supreme Court that the newspaper believes it “may have been emanated from the plaintiff or someone closely associated with them.”
Energy Transfer did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether they were connected to mailed newspapers.
As of Sunday afternoon, the court had not responded to the petition. The trial is expected to last for five weeks.
Testimony began Wednesday at a courthouse in Mandan, New Dude, across the Missouri River from the capital Bismarck. The protest took place on a drive south about 45 minutes.
The case is heard by Judge James D. Zeon, who is usually based in nearby Stark County. According to court documents, a Morton County judge rejected himself by saying “he knew the plaintiff/defendant and felt that the best interests of justice should disqualify him.”
Energy Transfer began calling witnesses on Wednesday.
Joey Mahmoud, vice president of energy transfers, overseeing access to Dakota, testified that the pipeline serves an important purpose in bringing oil from the Bakken fields in the West to the Midwest and refineries beyond. The construction of the pipeline came amid a historic boom in fracked oil from the region that led the United States to become the world's largest oil producer.
He testified that protests from the Standing Rocksou tribe and their allies against the project escalated in the spring of 2016. Tribal leaders said the project would pass through burial sites and other sacred lands, and its construction would put the tribe's water supply at risk.
The company refuted that it had hired experts to investigate the routes, claiming that these claims were not supported. He also said pipelines are a safer way to transport oil than trucks and railroads.
Energy transfer lawyers called the county sheriff to the stands to show video deposits of former Greenpeace employees. Many of their questions focus on the use of “lockboxes” that Greenpeace sent to protests.
Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeyer testified that law enforcement must hurry to respond to the influx of protesters and escalation of the conflict. He had to train officers with tactics such as nullifying the lockbox, he said.
Harmony Lambert, a former Greenpeace employee, said in her deposition that she traveled to Standing Rock in 2016 and worked with a group of Indigenous activists. At the time, she wrote an email that she had sent to a colleague at Greenpeace, detailing her activities, including training people with lockdown techniques and donating around 20 lockboxes.
Petitions from media organizations, including the New York Times, are pending before the state Supreme Court. Another petition for online access was denied by a group of left-leaning lawyers who travelled to North Dakota to observe the case. The group included amendment lawyers Martin Garvas and Stephen Donziger.
