"Greenpeace Sues Chemical Makers, Alleging Spy Effort"

"Contractors working for Dow Chemical and Sasol North America, a chemical manufacturer, hired private investigators to conduct a two-year corporate espionage campaign against the environmental group Greenpeace, according to a lawsuit filed on Monday in federal district court in Washington.

The investigators stole documents from locked trash bins, tapped phones and hacked into computer networks, and operatives posing as activists infiltrated Greenpeace offices and meetings, the suit claims.

The purported spying occurred between 1998 and 2000. At the time, Greenpeace was campaigning against the release of dioxin, a toxic byproduct of chemical manufacturing, in Lake Charles, La., and other communities."

John Collins Rudolf reports for the New York Times November 29, 2010.

SEE ALSO:

"Greenpeace Accuses Dow Chemical, Sasol and P.r. Allies of Corporate Spying" (Washington Post)