BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - The developer of the Dakota Access oil pipeline has amended a $1 billion racketeering lawsuit it filed against three environmental entities.
The move by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners came after a federal judge in recent weeks criticized the original filing last August as vague and threatened to dismiss it.
ETP sued Greenpeace, Earth First and BankTrack, alleging they worked to undermine the $3.8 billion pipeline.
Judge Billy Roy Wilson last month dismissed BankTrack as a defendant. On Friday, he ruled ETP hasn't proven its case against Earth First but that it can sue individual members if it has enough evidence.
ETP has now added five individual defendants. The company also is limiting defamation and business interference claims to Greenpeace and adding a criminal trespass count against all defendants.
