Oct 29 (Reuters) - A judge in North Dakota on Wednesday

slashed by almost half jury-awarded damages of about $667

million against environmental advocacy group Greenpeace over its

role in protests against the construction of the Dakota Access

Pipeline.

State District Judge James Gion said the amount Greenpeace

owes pipeline company Energy Transfer ( ET ) should be limited

to $345 million, after finding that some of the damages were

duplicative or excessive.

Greenpeace interim general counsel, Marco Simons, said the

group "still believe that the remaining claims are legally

unfounded" and the case "has always been about a wealthy

corporation using the legal system to intimidate its critics and

muzzle protesters who threaten its business model."

Spokespeople and an attorney for Energy Transfer ( ET ) did not

immediately respond to requests for comment on the decision.

The Dakota Access project near the Standing Rock Indian

Reservation began in 2016 and was completed in 2017.

Construction of the pipeline, which now transports roughly

40% of the oil produced in North Dakota's Bakken region, was met

with fierce protests by environmental and tribal advocacy groups

who said it would poison the local water supply and exacerbate

climate change.

Texas-based Energy Transfer ( ET ) first sued Greenpeace in North

Dakota federal court in 2017 and accused it of spreading

falsehoods about the project and paying protesters to disrupt

construction. The North Dakota jury delivered its verdict in

March, including damages for defamation, trespassing and

conspiracy.

Greenpeace countersued Energy Transfer ( ET ) in the Netherlands in

February under a European law aimed at curbing lawsuits filed to

harass or silence activists. That lawsuit is ongoing.