BISMARCK N.D.: The company that built the disputed Dakota Access oil pipeline is suing Greenpeace and other groups, alleging they disseminated false information about the project and interfered with construction.

Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners alleges the groups’ actions interfered with the company’s business, facilitated crimes and acts of terrorism, and violated racketeering and defamation laws.

The lawsuit filed on Tuesday in federal court in North Dakota seeks unspecified damages.

A Greenpeace spokesman says the group hasn’t seen the lawsuit and declined to comment.

The 1,200-mile (1930-kilometre) pipeline began moving North Dakota oil through South Dakota and Iowa to a distribution point in Illinois June 1, after months of delays caused by legal wrangling and on-the-ground protests by tribes and groups that feared environmental harm. Police made 761 arrests in North Dakota between August and February.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2017