Environment minister says no to Cenovus Energy gas project in Alberta

OTTAWA - Environment Minister Peter Kent says he won't approve an Alberta gas project planned by Cenovus Energy (TSX:CVE).

The proposal involves a shallow gas infill development project in the CFB Suffield national wildlife area.

It's one of the first projects to be reviewed under the new, streamlined environmental assessment rules that the federal government announced to much controversy last spring.

Kent says the project would put wildlife at risk and he had to turn it down.

He says the decision proves critics were wrong and the new process does not provide an automatic green light for resource development.