A junior oil and gas company in Calgary is blaming an order aimed at protecting a rare Prairie bird for its insolvency.
L-G-X Oil Plus Gas says its daily operations and drilling plans were significantly disrupted when an emergency order under the federal Species At Risk Act took effect in February 2014.
The order restricts noise on 17-hundred square kilometres of provincial and federal lands in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan during the spring mating season for the greater sage-grouse, and places limits on the construction of roads and fences.
L-G-X announced in December it had filed a lawsuit against the federal government seeking 60-million dollars in compensation.
A spokeswoman with Environment and Climate Change Canada says the government has not yet filed a statement of defence.