A North Dakota judge signalled Tuesday he will formalize an order requiring Greenpeace to pay an estimated $345 million in damages to pipeline company Energy Transfer.

The order stemmed from the environmental group's role in protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline nearly a decade ago.

In court papers filed Tuesday, Judge James Gion stated he would sign the order against several Greenpeace entities. 

While Gion’s latest filing did not specify the final sum, he set the amount at $345 million last year, effectively halving a jury’s original damages award.

The decision is expected to trigger appeals to the North Dakota Supreme Court from both the Dallas-based pipeline company and the environmental non-profit.

Last year, a nine-person jury found Netherlands-based Greenpeace International, Greenpeace USA, and the Greenpeace Fund Inc. liable for defamation and other claims. 

The jury found Greenpeace USA liable on all counts, including conspiracy, trespass, and tortious interference with the pipeline project, leading to a hefty damages fee award to Energy Transfer.

The litigation centres on the massive 2016 and 2017 demonstrations near the Missouri River. Thousands of protesters camped upstream of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s reservation to oppose the pipeline, which the tribe argued threatened its water supply. 

Energy Transfer alleged that Greenpeace orchestrated the movement, provided blockade supplies, and spread misinformation to delay construction.

Greenpeace leaders maintain the judgment is a "SLAPP" suit—strategic litigation against public participation—designed to chill First Amendment rights.

"As mid-sized non-profits, it has always been clear that we would not have the ability to pay hundreds of millions of dollars," said Marco Simons, interim general counsel for Greenpeace USA.

Financial filings from late last year show Greenpeace USA held just $23 million in total assets as of December 2024, far short of its share of the judgment. The organization warned it could not "continue normal operations" if the order is enforced.

Energy Transfer, meanwhile, has previously called the original, higher jury award "lawful and just," suggesting it may fight to reinstate the full $666.9 million initially awarded before Gion’s reduction.