EnCana’s approach to caring for the environment in Suffield National Wildlife Area apparently does not include recognizing the Base Commander as the ultimate authority for environmental protection in the NWA — according to testimony by the Government of Canada last week.

(The wildlife area is located within a Canadian Forces Base near Medicine Hat, Alberta. The base has been active in its management since 1971, when it was zoned “out of bounds” to all military training and defence research activities.)

At the same time, EnCana claims that their relationship with the Base is improving, a claim that is contradicted by Department of National Defence. The DND spokesperson, it an opening statement at the hearings, declared in a slide: “Proponent has demonstrated limited responsiveness to feedback from DND on compliance issues.” DND went on to say that “compliance incidents” occur with sufficient frequency as to represent “an unacceptable level of risk given the need to ensure the conservation of wildlife and the protection of species at risk” in the NWA.

Former Base Commander Drew, in a 2005 letter to EnCana, referred to the strategy of Suffield Industry Range Control (a subsidiary of EnCana) to “deny, delay, deter and deflect,” which appears to have been typical of EnCana’s approach to doing business in Suffield.

Read the transcripts on the CEAR website.

And stay tuned; closing argument is scheduled for the end of this week!