"BISMARCK, N.D. — The developer of the Dakota Access oil pipeline is battling to avoid dismissal of a second defendant in its federal racketeering lawsuit against three environmental groups.
Attorneys for Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners argue in court documents filed Wednesday that Earth First should be held accountable for “eco-terrorist activities” because it’s a legal entity that can be sued, and that the company at the very least should be able to add a publication associated with it as a defendant.
ETP sued Earth First, Greenpeace and BankTrack last August for up to $1 billion, alleging they worked to undermine the $3.8 billion pipeline that’s now moving oil from North Dakota to Illinois. The groups said the lawsuit was an attack on free speech.
The Center for Constitutional Rights also maintains Earth First is an unstructured social movement or philosophy, similar to Black Lives Matter, and can’t be sued. ETP tried to serve the lawsuit on Earth First Journal, but the Florida-based environmental publication effectively argued it was not the same as the movement."
Blake Nicholson reports for the Associated Press August 2, 2018.
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