Federal US Judge says Dakota Access developer can’t sue BankTrack

(Tampa Bay Times, Bismark, 26 July 2018) A federal judge has ruled that the developer of the Dakota Access oil pipeline has no claim under federal racketeering law for damages against a Dutch environmental group that urged banks not to finance the $3.8 billion project. U.S. District Judge Billy Roy Wilson dismissed Netherlands-based BankTrack as a defendant in a lawsuit that Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners filed in August against that group, Greenpeace and Earth First. In separate rulings this week, he also cast doubt on whether the lawsuit will succeed against the other two groups. Wilson said the lawsuit “vaguely attempts” to connect BankTrack to acts of radical ecoterrorism, but he concluded that “None of BankTrack’s actions promoted, assisted or condoned violent criminal conduct,”. BankTrack Director Johan Frijns in a statement said the judge’s ruling “confirms that this type of advocacy work is legitimate.”