Review Panel Schedules Hearings On EnCana Suffield Project

The joint panel reviewing the proposed EnCana Corporation shallow gas infill development project in the Suffield National Wildlife Area in Alberta, says the Environmental Impact Statement along with the additional information submitted by the proponent is adequate to schedule public hearings on the environmental effects of the proposed project and the associated application for the three well licenses.

The panel has asked the proponent to submit further information in the next 30 days.

Public hearings will begin on March 10, 2008 in Calgary and will also be held in Medicine Hat. The hearings are expected to take place over a period of approximately three weeks.

The public hearings will give interested individuals and organizations the opportunity to hear about the project and its consequences and to provide their views and concerns to the joint review panel. The hearings will also allow the proponent to present the project and to offer clarifying information as required.

The public hearing in Calgary will be formal and conducted in accordance with the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board Rules of Practice.

For individuals and groups who may not be able to participate for the duration of the formal hearing, the joint panel also intends to implement a less formal hearing procedure to ensure that it receives their views on the project. The panel will schedule these less formal sessions in both Calgary and Medicine Hat and will advise participants of the procedures it will use in these sessions.

In January 2008, the panel will issue a Notice of Hearing, along with hearing procedures and further details on the hearings. In addition, the panel intends to hire experts in the fields of wildlife management and grasslands ecology who will be submitting reports prior to the start of hearings.

EnCana proposes to drill, over a three-year period, up to 1,275 new shallow gas wells within the boundary of the Canadian Forces Base Suffield National Wildlife Area (NWA), located in southeastern Alberta, approximately 50 kilometres northwest of Medicine Hat and 250 kilometres southeast of Calgary.

The project is in addition to the existing natural gas development activities within the NWA and includes the physical works and the activities associated with the construction, operation, decommissioning, abandonment and reclamation of the shallow gas wells, pipelines, and supporting infrastructure.