Mandan, North Dakota: Judge Denies Greenpeace a New Trial in $345 Million Dakota Access Pipeline Case

A North Dakota judge on Monday denied Greenpeace's request for a new trial in the lawsuit brought by Energy Transfer, the developer of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Southwest Judicial District Judge James Gion ruled that the case will not be tried a second time, leaving in place a $345 million judgment against three Greenpeace organizations.

The decision moves the fight to the North Dakota Supreme Court. Greenpeace said on Monday it will appeal the judgment, entered earlier this year after a Morton County jury first put damages at $667 million.

A verdict from the protest years

The lawsuit grew out of the protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota in 2016 and 2017, when thousands of people camped near the pipeline's Missouri River crossing upstream of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's reservation. Energy Transfer sued Greenpeace USA, Greenpeace International and the Greenpeace Fund, accusing the organizations of inciting illegal acts during the protests and of publishing false statements that harmed the company's reputation.

After a trial that ran more than three weeks in Mandan, a Morton County jury in early 2025 found Greenpeace at fault and directed the organizations to pay about $667 million. Judge Gion later cut the award to $345 million.

Why Greenpeace wanted a second trial

Greenpeace argued that the first trial was not fair. Its attorneys said Energy Transfer was allowed to present inaccurate and irrelevant evidence, that the jury instructions and verdict form contained major errors, and that the verdict contradicted the credible evidence shown at trial.

The organizations also said the jury pool was biased in Energy Transfer's favor. They argued that many Morton County residents hold negative memories of the pipeline protests, that the local economy depends on the energy industry, and that mailers and other media circulated in Mandan and Bismarck before the trial carried anti-protest and pro-energy content. Greenpeace proposed holding a new trial in Cass County, where Fargo is the county seat.

Gion said he did not find the arguments persuasive. He noted that every juror seated had pledged under oath to make an impartial decision. He warned that a second lengthy trial in Cass County could delay other cases there for years, and wrote that claims of legal errors by the court would be best addressed in the appeal process. Before the first trial, both Gion and the North Dakota Supreme Court had already refused to move the case to Cass County.

Both sides claim the ruling backs them

Energy Transfer welcomed the Monday order. "Today's order denying Greenpeace's motion for a new trial confirms what a North Dakota jury unanimously found after a full trial: Greenpeace is responsible for the harm it caused," the company said in a Monday statement.

Greenpeace answered that the appeal will carry the same complaints to the state's highest court. "Since the district court refuses to right the wrongs committed at trial, we will next appeal the many wrongly decided and unresolved errors in the case to the North Dakota Supreme Court," Kristin Casper, general counsel for Greenpeace International, said in the organization's announcement.

The case has an overseas branch. Greenpeace International sued in the Netherlands last year, accusing Energy Transfer of weaponizing the United States legal system against it. After a May decision from the North Dakota Supreme Court, Gion in August ordered it to withdraw any Dutch claims that argue the North Dakota lawsuit lacks a legal foundation, and barred it from seeking compensation that would offset the Morton County verdict.