A North Dakota ju apprentice on Wednesday found that Greenpeace was responsible for the honour and other claims brought by the pipeline company in connection with the protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline.
The nine ju umpire awarded Dallas-based energy transfer and its subsidiary Dakota with hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.
The lawsuit denounced Netherlands-based Greenpeace International, Greenpeace USA and fundraising ARM Greenpeace Fund Inc. for honoring, trespassing, annoyance, civil conspiracy and other conduct.
The incident returns to protests in 2016 and 2017 that the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline and its Missouri River will cross over the Standing Rocksou reservations.
For years, tribes have opposed the line as a risk of water supply.
The multi-stage pipeline has been transporting oil since mid-2017.
Plaintiff's attorney Trey Cox said Greenpeace has implemented plans to halt construction of the pipeline.
In an opening statement, he claimed that Greenpeace paid outsiders to enter the area and protest, sending out a lockdown supply, organising or leading protesters training, and making a statement that is untrue about the project to stop it.
Attorneys for the Greenpeace entity said there was no evidence in the allegations that Greenpeace employees had little or no involvement in the protest and that the organization had nothing to do with the construction of energy transfers or delays in refinancing.
Greenpeace representatives say the lawsuit is a key test of First Amendment's freedom of speech and right to protest, and could threaten the organization's future.
An energy transfer spokesperson previously said the lawsuit was about Greenpeace not free speech and not following the law.
