News Release
PROPOSED ENCANA SHALLOW GAS INFILL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT – FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AWARDS PARTICIPANT FUNDING

OTTAWA, September 18, 2006 - The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (the Agency) has awarded $140,430 to three applicants to support their participation in the environmental assessment by a Canada-Alberta joint review panel of the proposed EnCana Shallow Gas Infill Development project in the Suffield National Wildlife Area in Alberta. The joint review panel will include members appointed by the Minister of the Environment and by the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board.

The recipients are the Grasslands Naturalists Society, the Alberta Wilderness Association and Nature Canada. The funds will assist recipients to review the guidelines for the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), to review the EIS and to participate in the public hearings. The funding is made available through the Participant Funding Program administered by the Agency.

A funding review committee, independent from the joint review panel environmental assessment process, was established to examine the participant funding applications. All of the committee's recommendations were unanimous and are contained in the report of the funding review committee. The report along with further information on the project is available on the Agency's Web site.

EnCana Corporation proposes to install, over a three-year period, up to 1275 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 preparation, construction, operation, decommissioning and abandonment of the shallow gas wells, pipelines, and supporting infrastructure.

For more information on the Participant Funding Program, contact:

Suzanne Osborne
Acting Manager, Participant Funding Program
Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
Tel.: 613-957-0254
Fax: 613-957-0496
suzanne.osborne@ceaa-acee.gc.ca

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency administers the federal environmental assessment process, which identifies the environmental effects of proposed projects and measures to address those effects, in support of sustainable development.

Media may contact:

Lucille Jamault
Senior Communications Advisor
Tel.: 613-957-0434