Conservationists and area residents gathered at
Mount Backus, the site of
Shell Canada’s new sour gas well development, on Saturday June 4th to “mourn” the loss of the area.
The “wake” for the site, which is located six kilometres west of the hamlet of Beaver Mines, came on the heels of nearby resident and outfitter Mike Judd’s rejected application to the Alberta Court of Appeal for a Leave of Appeal to the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB)’s decision to allow Shell to drill a new sour gas well in the area.
Judd, who lives two kilometres from the site, said that such development would harm populations of wildlife and rare plants which grow in the area.
“Developments like this are causing us to lose plants that only grow here under very specific conditions,” said Judd. “Development is limiting their chance of survival.”
He also said that this acrivity is harmful to grizzly populations, which are threatened in the Castle Wilderness area.
