A Texas pipeline company's lawsuit seeking potentially hundreds of millions of dollars from Greenpeace was set to advance with opening statements Wednesday in a trial the environmental organization calls an effort to silence critics of the oil industry.

Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Jury selection began Monday in Dakota Access Pipeline's $300 million lawsuit against Greenpeace USA. A federal lawsuit by the company was dismissed but there is a similar one filed in North Dakota state court in 2019. The trial will take place in Mandan, N.D., which is near Bismarck.

Opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline demonstrate in Bismarck in August 2016. (Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — A behemoth defamation lawsuit brought by the developer of the Dakota Access Pipeline against Greenpeace began its trial in a Mandan courtroom on Monday.