Skip to main content

Wiebo Ludwig exits a vehicle where media have gathered at the entrance road to Trickle Creek, Saturday, January 9, 2010 in Hythe, Alta.Jimmy Jeong

In the month before police raided Wiebo Ludwig's farm, searching for links to attacks on natural gas facilities near the BC-Alberta border, his family was quietly fighting a plan to drill a new gas well nearby.

RCMP concluded their search Monday, a spokesman saying items were seized and taken away for tests.

The letter, signed by Mr. Ludwig's son Joshua and submitted to the Energy Resources Conservation Board in November, objects to a plan by Canadian Superior Energy Inc. to sink a natural gas well near the Trickle Creek farm, about 500 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.

"Given the close proximity of the planned drilling, we also question why this development is already taking place without our knowledge and consultation, especially considering the publicly known tragedies and resulting conflict we have experienced with oil and gas developments around us," the letter reads.

According to the letter, the gas well would be just over 3 kilometres from the nearest residence at Trickle Creek and raises concerns about emissions can endanger fetuses of pregnant women living on the farm.

"We have had these experiences here unfortunately," the letter reads. "So please don't try to play with us on this one, your regulations not withstanding."

The board is reviewing the submission.

The bombing attacks targeted pipelines belonging to Calgary-based energy company EnCana near the British Columbia communities of Dawson Creek and Tomslake, just over the provincial boundary from Mr. Ludwig's Trickle Creek farm in northwestern Alberta.

Mr. Ludwig was arrested Friday when the search began and was told he would be facing a count of extortion. But he was released after 24 hours without being charged. Insp. Shields said police believe they did the right thing.

"We are confident after reviewing all the information that is in our possession that we arrested the right person for the right reasons and at the right time."

Neil MacKenzie, spokesman for the B.C. Criminal Justice Branch, said his department hadn't yet seen any of the new evidence.

"We have not been provided any material yet in relation to the search or the arrest last week," he said from Vancouver. "At such time that the police forward us any material in connection with the ongoing investigation, we'll review it and things will progress from that point."

Mr. Ludwig's status is now the same as it was before his arrest.

"For the time being, he's just like everybody else," said his lawyer Paul Moreau in Edmonton. "According to the Constitution, he's an innocent man."

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe