A Vancouver environmental organization got a scare today as bailiffs arrived intending to seize and sell their assets on behalf of a major Canadian energy company.

Amid a social media backlash, however, Enbridge pulled the plug at the last minute on a move to recoup $14,000 in court costs from Stand.earth over a dispute over an Ontario pipeline.

Stand.earth director, Karen Mahon, told CTV News she believed Enbridge was trying to disrupt their activism.

“Enbridge made $4.6 billion last year. This is not about the money. This is an attempt to intimidate us from taking action on behalf of the climate and the public,” she said.

At around 11 a.m., bailiffs arrived at the office of Stand.earth, formerly known as ForestEthics. They filmed the office and told staff that they were not allowed to remove any of the items there. The bailiffs then left, saying they would be back with a moving truck.

They showed a writ of seizure and sale from a lawsuit over the National Energy Board’s approval of the 25 per cent expansion in capacity of the Line 9 pipeline and a reversal of the flow from Sarnia, Ont. to Montreal. ForestEthics lost their attempt to argue that the National Energy Board’s procedures didn’t allow enough feedback from the public.

The court assessed fees of $12,939.58 on October 21, 2014, which with interest added to $14,559.19. Documents from the Federal Court said that it was Enbridge who applied for the writ on August 17.

“The writ of seizure and sale was issued at the request of, and inquires may be directed to: Enbridge Pipelines Inc.,” the document says.

Enbridge didn’t answer phone calls from about 11 a.m. until just before 1 p.m., when the company tweeted: “We have asked the sheriffs not to seize any assets from @standearth and we will not be pursuing the matter further.”

Stand.earth said it didn’t pay the original court costs out of principle. In Canada, the organization is incorporated as a society. Its U.S. arm posts its financials, which revealed in 2015 it had some US $1.4 million in assets.