The case has been filed in the US District Court for the District of North Dakota against Greenpeace International, Greenpeace Inc., Greenpeace Fund, Inc., BankTrack, Earth First!, and other organizations and individuals. 

Energy Transfer said the group of co-conspirators manufactured and disseminated materially false and misleading information about the company and DAPL for the purpose of fraudulently inducing donations, interfering with pipeline construction activities and damaging the company’s critical business and financial relationships.

The company also claimed that the group has violated federal and state racketeering statutes, defamation, and constituted defamation and tortious interference under North Dakota law.

Energy Transfer’s complaint describes that the group targeted the firm’s critical business relationships, including the financing sources for DAPL and other infrastructure projects.

According to company, Dakota Access was a legally permitted project that underwent nearly three years of through thorough environmental review.

Energy Transfer said that the group directly and indirectly funded eco-terrorists on the ground in North Dakota, besides carrying out a misinformation campaign. 

DAPL or Bakken pipeline is a $3.7bn and 1,886km underground oil pipeline in the US. It starts in the Bakken shale oil fields in northwest North Dakota and continues through South Dakota and Iowa to the oil tank farm near Patoka, Illinois.

Dakota Acces, which is a subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners, started constructing the pipeline in June 2016. Its minor partners are Phillips 66, Enbridge and Marathon Petroleum.