Nature Canada

EnCana Stands Alone at Suffield Hearings: an Update


The hearings on EnCana’s proposal to drill in the Suffield NWA continue…

Saturday:
The panel held an informal session in Calgary, where it heard from many individuals interested in protecting the NWA, including Sandra Foss and Glen Semenchuck of Federation of Alberta Naturalists. They told the panel that an NWA is supposed to have more protection than a National Park.

Mrs. Kettenbach, a local farmer, shared her concern for the integrity of native prairie, based on her experience on the land. Doug Hutton of This Living World Nature Trust made reference to the oil development threats to the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge before making the simple point that we need to have protected areas and we should just stay out of those areas.
Another true highlight was the appearance by Dr. Longair of the Entomological Society of Alberta. His question to EnCana about the scope of their environmental assessment was: “… I’m assuming that when you’ve used the term wildlife”, you’ve been referring to less than 5 percent of the animal species that are actually there; would that be correct?” The answer from EnCana being, of course, that arthropods (insects, spiders, etc) have not been considered in the assessment.

Monday:
The Panel moved to Medicine Hat for another informal hearing. There they heard from several others concerned about the proposed development. Interventions included presentations by Dawn Dickinson of Grassland Naturalists Society, Branimir Gjetvaj on behalf of CPAWS Calgary and Nature Saskatchewan, Jessica Ernst (whose groundwater has been contaminated by EnCana’s gas operations and actually catches fire!) and Garry Trottier, a former CWS wildlife biologist that was stationed at CFB Suffield for 18 years. He provided an invaluable historical perspective on how environmental issues have arisen in the base. His presentation underscores, once again, how inappropriate EnCana’s proposed development would be for the NWA.

Tuesday:
The Panel reconvened to continue the formal proceedings, with this third week focused on the Government of Canada. The opening statements of three federal departments confirm the Government of Canada’s interest in and commitment to the ecological integrity of this internationally significant remnant of native grassland. These departments appear to be very concerned about the project’s potential to destroy critical habitat for species at risk.

Really, EnCana appears to be quite alone in thinking their Environmental Impact Statement supports the conclusion that the project would have no significant effects on the environment. The presentations by the Department of National Defence, Environment Canada, and even Natural Resources Canada show the Government of Canada strongly disagrees.

DND ended its opening statement by asserting that “uncertainties in EnCana’s EIS and other evidence prevents the articulation of a rationale for determining whether the Project is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.” The NWA is a key area for the military in achieving both their sustainability and training goals. If the project goes ahead, it will compromise these goals by taking the area to the limit of its ability to support human activities.

Then today, cross examination of the Base Commander Bruce revealed a history of non-compliance on the part of EnCana and a resistance to his authority. Listen to recordings or read the transcripts on the CEAR website.
(Photo: Ferruginous Hawk, Cliff Wallis)

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