American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2017 - 16

IndustryDigest
District Court Convicts
Two Keystone Activists
CAVALIER, N.D.-The Pembina
County, N.D., District Court has found
two men guilty of criminal charges
associated with protests against
TransCanada's Keystone Pipeline.
According to media reports, Michael
Eric Foster of Seattle was convicted a
felony count of criminal mischief and
misdemeanor counts of reckless
endangerment and criminal trespass.
Four other charges were dismissed.
Samuel L. Jessup of Winooski, Vt., was
found guilty of the felony criminal
mischief and a misdemeanor criminal
conspiracy charge. Two other charges
were dismissed.
The two men, members of the
Climate Direct Action group, were
charged after an October incident in
which Foster used bolt cutters to break
into a locked Keystone facility and
closed a pipeline value, stopping oil
flows for several hours. Jessup filmed
the event, newspaper accounts indicate.
During the trial, District Judge
Laurie Fontaine denied several defense
motions, including a bid to introduce
testimony from climate change
witnesses to support Foster's necessity
defense, which newspapers describe as
an argument allowing a person to
commit a crime if there is no other way
for that person to avoid risk or harm.

The case should not become a forum
about climate change, Fontaine wrote,
pointing out the issues were limited to
whether the defendants willfully and/or
recklessly violated the law.
"While the proffered experts could
testify to the data supporting the
existence and severity of climate change,
there is no argument that they have the
knowledge or expertise to testify on how
knowledge of climate change affects an
individual defendant's mental state,
intent or level of culpability," court
documents quote the judge.
Foster faces as long as 21 years in
prison if convicted of all counts; Jessup
faces an 11-year maximum sentence.
According to media reports, sentencing
for the two men is set for Jan. 18. r

Federal Judge Denies
Racketeering Lawsuit
Against Greenpeace
WICHITA FALLS, TX.-A federal
district judge has dismissed a lawsuit
brought by a multinational forest
products company against Greenpeace
International under federal racketeering
law, according to a report from the
Texas Alliance of Energy Producers.
Citing published reports, the Alliance
says Judge Jon Tigar of the U.S. District
Court for the Northern District of
California ruled Oct. 16 that Resolute

Forest Products failed to prove
Greenpeace acted with "actual malice"
and awarded fees to the environmental
group.
The report says Resolute filed a $7
million defamation suit in 2013 against
Greenpeace in Ontario and an additional
$300 million lawsuit last year in federal
district court in Georgia, alleging
violations of both the federal Racketeer
Influenced and Corrupt Organizations
Act and state laws against defamation in
response to a Greenpeace campaign that
labeled Resolute as a "forest destroyer."
Dakota Access pipeline developers
Energy Transfer Partners LP and Energy
Transfer Equity LP have claims brought
under federal and state racketeering
statutes against Greenpeace and other
anti-development groups pending in the
U.S. District Court for the District of
North Dakota (AOGR, September 2017,
pg. 14).
Citing press accounts, the Alliance
says Greenpeace was able to get
Resolute's U.S. lawsuit transferred to
the California court where Judge Tigar
granted all five of the environmental
group's motions to dismiss the case,
contending it was an attempt to silence
advocacy and stifle free speech.
The Alliance says Judge Tigar ruled
Resolute failed to show that Greenpeace
acted with "actual malice," or to support
its claims with specific time, place and
content of false representations.
The judge did allow Resolute to file
an amended complaint, which the
Alliance says the company indicated it
intended to do. The Canadian lawsuit is
still pending. r

Federal Court Sinks
Local Injection Ban
In Pennsylvania

Seated from left are Earl MacKay with Enerplus Resources, David McQuade with Targa Resources and Robbie McDonough with Crestwood Equity Partners, surrounded by other
company representatives on hand for the inaugural North Dakota Petroleum Council
member achievement awards, presented at the association's annual meeting, Sept. 26-28
in Grand Forks, N.D. Enerplus received the Excellence in Safety Award, Targa was
presented the Environmental Stewardship Award, and the association's Community Engagement Award went to Crestwood. See convention coverage on page 79.

16 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

ERIE, PA.-With her decision in
Seneca Resources Corp. v. Highland
Township et al., a federal judge has nixed
a measure in Highland Township, Pa.,
that forbade underground injection wells.
The ban, part of a community bill of
rights that township voters passed in
November 2016, was challenged by
Seneca Resources Corp., which argued
before the U.S. District Court for the
Western District of Pennsylvania that
the charter's legal flaws ran afoul of
state and federal authority and due
process rights, court documents say.

American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2017

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