A SLAPP From DAPL

Introduction Attempts to squash public advocacy through fictional complaints are fun to read, until the potential of them being taken seriously sets in. On August 22, 2017, in the Western Division of North Dakota, Energy Transfer Partners (“ETP”) filed a complaint against Greenpeace and other environmental nonprofits for racketeering in violation of RICO, defamation, tortious interference with business, and common law civil conspiracy, among other extraordinary counts. Essentially, ETP filed a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (“SLAPP”)—asserting that Greenpeace and the “enterprise” of environmental-advocacy organizations machinated the Standing Rock protests and propagated lies about the Dakota Access Pipeline (“DAPL”) to raise money for “sham campaigns.” ETP’s imaginative claims are aimed to intimidate and punish environmental organizations that aided Standing Rock protestors and to silence future demonstrations. Standing Rock Background The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has peacefully opposed DAPL’s construction since 2014 with a fact-based concern: oil pipelines leak, and constructing DAPL poses a health risk to the millions of people who drink from and use the Missouri River. ETP partially owns DAPL, which runs for over 1,000 miles, crossing through four states and hundreds of waterways, including the Missouri River. Without permission from the Sioux tribe, the U.S. Army Corps [read more]